I have searched through hundreds of index records looking for anything that indicates a charge related to possession or paraphernalia.
By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent
Missouri’s courts have removed more than 140.000 marijuana cases from their records since the voters passed the constitutional amendment in 2022 to allow recreational marijuana.
The numbers will not go much higher.
As part of this amendment, courts were required to check their records for marijuana-related offenses and make them disappear from people’s files.
Missouri’s major counties are largely done with the job, but some of them will keep working on it in the coming year.
Bryan Feemster is the Greene County Circuit clerk. We may have completed the project by mid-year this year. “We don’t know how many more are left.”
According to the information provided by the state administrator to the court clerks, the paper records of the state courts largely ended around 2014. The first laws relating to marijuana date back to 1971.
The county courts can go as far back as they want, but there isn’t a set time limit.
Scott Lauck is the spokesman of 16th Judicial Circuit Jackson County. He said clerks finished their case review in December 2023.
Lauck stated that, “Accordingly to our Criminal Records Department, we’ve completed the review on the marijuana expungements dating back to 1989.” This was the farthest back we could identify any cases in reports that were available.
He said that the county is sometimes made aware of new defendants when they leave probation.
He said that if the marijuana charges are confirmed, they will be sent to the Sentencing Division for further consideration.
John O’Sullivan said the clerks of St. Louis County Court are “in the review and redetermination stage, to determine how we will be reviewing our next batch of cases.”
The Missouri Supreme Court estimates that about 307,000 cases have been reviewed—which would mean the counties expunged 46 percent of the cases they reviewed.
This estimate excludes the paper documents.
Court clerks must read summary for each criminal record. It’s not possible to create a search report for certain criminal codes.
Sammye White is the circuit clerk for Iron County. She said paper files take the longest to be identified.
The woman said that she had been doing this exact thing Friday morning. “I’ve scanned hundreds of records to find any evidence that indicates an offense for possession or paraphernalia.”
If she discovers a marijuana charge in the criminal record, then she must find the original file and check to confirm that it is indeed marijuana.
She has to choose the few that are most likely to be eligible.
First published in Missouri Independent.
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