Minnesota Expungement: The Process & Legal Standards
Expungement involves destroying records of arrest, conviction or other information relating to criminal activity in state, county and municipal databases. The Minnesota expungement statutes outline the process. The Minnesota legislature has published a handbook that provides an overview of the expungement process in Minnesota. Most people seek expungement to protect themselves from losing employment opportunities as the result of a prior conviction.
The process begins with the drafting of a Petition to Expunge. Once sworn to before a notary, the Petition is filed with the district court and served upon all of the relevant law enforcement agencies, including the county attorney, city attorney, Minnesota Attorney General, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, local police, county sheriff and any other agency with records surrounding the relevant offense.
A hearing takes place at least 60 days after service of the Petition, by statute. Any victim involved in the offense for which expungement is sought has a right to speak to the court at the time of the hearing. They can describe the harm they have suffered as a result of the defendant's conduct and offer their input as to whether the expungement should be granted or denied.
The court will expunge all relevant records unless the state establishes by clear and convincing evidence that public safety outweighs the disadvantages to the petitioner if expungement is denied.
The Minnesota Supreme Court recently rendered an opinion that denied a defendant the right to have criminal records expunged from the BCA - part of the executive branch of the government. The Court found that the expungement of such records violates the separation of powers doctrine.
However, the Minnesota Court of Appeals recently ruled that courts do have the inherent power to expunge records resting in a separate branch of government. The Minnesota Supreme Court declined to review the Court of Appeals decision, which, therefore, remains good law.
