ST. LOUIS — With the legalization of recreational marijuana in Missouri comes a new opportunity for some people who are behind bars right now to potentially get out of custody.
The opportunity has public defenders across the state busy working to expunge records.
People who are in custody right now for marijuana offenses can fill out a petition to have their records cleared. However, for those who are in custody right now, expungement is not automatic.
Prior to now, possessing up to three pounds of marijuana in Missouri could get you locked up. In November, Missouri voters said ‘no more.’ Now attorneys across the state are working to get people who are in custody for these offenses out.
"It is going to happen,” Stacey Lannert with the Missouri Public Defender's Office said.
Lannert's group is fielding calls from those in jails, prisons, and halfway houses looking to have their records expunged.
"It should put them back in the position as if they were never convicted in the first place," she said.
Here's the petition the group is sharing. Family and friends of those who are impacted can work with attorneys to get their loved ones out of custody.
This impacts people with certain misdemeanor and felony offenses related to marijuana possession.
There are some people in custody right now who won't be able to take advantage of the expungement.
"If there was violence involved...if they were driving while under the influence or delivering to a minor...those people do not qualify,” Lannert said.
As for those with marijuana offenses who are not in custody, they need do nothing. Expungement of their records will happen automatically.
"When you have a possession of a controlled substance, sometimes it limits people from housing. It can limit them from receiving certain kind of grants for education. Something that's no longer considered a crime in Missouri...how can we put a record on somebody who now wouldn't be convicted?” she asked.
For those with misdemeanor marijuana offenses, their records have to be expunged come June. For those with certain qualifying felonies, their records have to be cleared by December.
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