Michigan Expungement and Set-Aside: Clean Slate and Petitions

In Michigan, expungement is legally called “setting aside” a conviction, and it happens one of two ways: the Michigan State Police automatically clear certain older convictions under the state’s Clean Slate law, or you petition a court under Act 213 of 1965 to clear convictions that don’t qualify automatically.¹ A successful set-aside means you are legally considered not to have been previously convicted, with narrow exceptions carved out for courts and law enforcement.

Automatic Clearing Under Clean Slate

Michigan’s Clean Slate law took effect in April 2023. The Michigan State Police reviews its criminal history database and sets aside eligible convictions on its own, with no application, hearing, or fee on your part.²

The waiting period runs from sentencing, or for felonies from the later of sentencing or release from prison:

Misdemeanors punishable by less than 92 days: cleared after 7 years, no cap on the number.²
Misdemeanors punishable by 93 days or more: cleared after 7 years, up to 4 convictions.²
Felonies: cleared after 10 years, up to 2 convictions.²

The automatic process also excludes assaultive crimes, serious misdemeanors, crimes of dishonesty, offenses punishable by ten or more years in prison, and crimes involving a minor or vulnerable adult.² You also cannot have any pending criminal charges or any new convictions logged with MSP during the waiting period.

If you’re not sure whether your record has already been cleared, you can check your criminal history through the MSP’s Internet Criminal History Access Tool (ICHAT) for $10.

Who Can Petition a Court

Anything the automatic system doesn’t reach can still be brought before a judge, and the petition process covers a broader range of offenses, including assaultive crimes and crimes of dishonesty that don’t appear on the permanently ineligible list.

Michigan caps felonies, not misdemeanors. You can petition to clear all of your misdemeanor convictions no matter how many you have, but no more than three felonies total. If your record includes more than three felonies, you cannot petition for any of them. Two further limits sit on top of the three-felony cap: no more than two assaultive-crime convictions can be set aside during your lifetime, and no more than one felony conviction for the same offense can be set aside if that offense carries a potential sentence of more than ten years.³

How Long You Have to Wait Before Filing

The clock starts from whichever event happens last: sentencing, completion of probation, release from prison, or discharge from parole. Michigan uses three tiers based on what you want cleared.

A single felony with no serious misdemeanors only needs the five-year wait, not seven. The seven-year period applies when you are petitioning to clear two or three felonies.

Convictions That Cannot Be Set Aside

Some offenses are permanently ineligible under either process. Under MCL 780.621c, no judge can clear them and MSP will not clear them automatically:

The Faster Track for Misdemeanor Marijuana

Misdemeanor marijuana convictions have their own process under MCL 780.621e, covering possession, use, and paraphernalia offenses. The law creates a rebuttable presumption that the underlying activity would not have been a crime after December 6, 2018, when Michigan legalized recreational marijuana.⁶

If you file a marijuana application and the prosecutor does not respond within 60 days, the court must enter an order setting aside the conviction within 21 days. If the prosecutor answers to rebut the presumption, the court holds a hearing within 30 days and issues a decision within 14 days after that.⁶ A marijuana set-aside does not entitle you to a refund of any fines, costs, or forfeited property from the original case.

Filing a Petition Step by Step

You need three things before filing.

First, a certified copy of each conviction you want cleared, obtained from the clerk of the court where that conviction was entered. This document shows the exact charge, conviction date, and statute violated. Fees vary by court.

Second, a completed Michigan Applicant Fingerprint Card (RI-008), obtained at your local law enforcement agency.⁷ Most agencies charge a service fee, and the amount varies by location.

Third, Form MC 227, the Application to Set Aside Conviction(s), from the Michigan Courts website.⁸ The form is a sworn statement, and it requires you to list every conviction you have ever received in any jurisdiction, with court name, case number, conviction date, and the specific statute. Omissions or errors can result in an outright denial.

File the completed MC 227 with the clerk of the court where the conviction occurred. The Michigan Attorney General’s office says there is no court filing fee.⁹ Send a copy of the application and your RI-008 fingerprint card to the Michigan State Police along with a $50 processing fee payable to the State of Michigan. Serve a separate copy of the application on the Attorney General’s office and on the prosecuting attorney who handled the original case.¹

The State Police then runs a background check against its internal database and federal records, producing an eligibility report. The court will not schedule a hearing until it receives this report. Expect the overall process to take up to eight months, including up to three months for the Attorney General’s office to respond after the criminal history report is completed.⁹

What the Judge Considers at the Hearing

The hearing happens before a judge in the court where the conviction was originally entered. The judge weighs your circumstances and behavior from the date of conviction through the filing of the application and decides whether setting aside the conviction is consistent with the public welfare.¹ The statute does not set a formal standard of proof like clear and convincing evidence for the general determination, giving the judge discretion to evaluate rehabilitation.

The prosecutor or a representative from the Attorney General’s office may attend and object. Expect direct questions about employment, education, community involvement, and whether you’ve stayed out of trouble since the conviction.

If the Petition Is Denied

You cannot file another petition for the same conviction until three years after the date of denial, unless the judge specifies an earlier date in the denial order.¹ If the denial came down to a paperwork problem rather than a substantive objection, ask the court whether it will set an earlier re-filing date.

What Setting Aside Actually Does to Your Record

Once a conviction is set aside, you are legally considered not to have been previously convicted.¹ On a job application, you can say you have not been convicted of that offense without misrepresenting your record. The conviction is removed from public view and is exempt from disclosure under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act.

The record does not disappear entirely. The Michigan State Police keep a nonpublic version accessible only to courts, law enforcement, the Department of Corrections, prosecutors, the Attorney General, and the Governor. Those agencies can use the record for purposes like sentencing on a future felony, licensing decisions within the judicial branch, or evaluating a pardon application. Anyone else who knowingly divulges information about a set-aside conviction commits a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a $500 fine.¹

Private background check companies should remove set-aside convictions from their reports, but database updates can take several weeks. After the order is entered, it’s worth checking your own record through ICHAT to confirm the conviction no longer appears publicly.

Federal Limits a State Set-Aside Cannot Fix

A Michigan set-aside clears your record under state law, and two federal areas trip people up.

Firearms

Federal law says a conviction that has been “expunged, or set aside” does not count as a disqualifying conviction for firearm possession, unless the set-aside expressly prohibits you from possessing firearms.¹⁰ The interaction with federal enforcement is not straightforward, though. Michigan automatically restores state-level firearm rights three to five years after you complete your sentence, and a set-aside can restore them sooner. Even so, federal authorities have sometimes taken the position that a state offender who has regained gun rights under state law remains federally disabled. If you had a felony conviction and are considering purchasing or possessing a firearm after a set-aside, consult a firearms attorney first.

Immigration

Federal immigration law defines “conviction” differently than Michigan does. Under federal standards, a conviction exists if there was a plea or admission of facts warranting guilt and some type of penalty was imposed. A state set-aside does not erase that federal definition. For non-citizens, a conviction that Michigan has set aside can still serve as grounds for deportation or denial of naturalization, and this applies to dispositions where a judgment of conviction was withheld, including deferred sentences and first-offender programs. If you are not a U.S. citizen and have a criminal record, talk to an immigration attorney before assuming a Michigan set-aside solves the problem.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws – Act 213 of 1965 – Setting Aside Convictions
2
Michigan State Police. Michigan Clean Slate
3
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 780.621 – Application for Order Setting Aside Conviction
4
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 780.621d – Application and Procedures for Setting Aside Felonies and Serious Misdemeanor Convictions
5
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 780.621c – Prohibition on Setting Aside Convictions for Certain Criminal Cases
6
Michigan Courts. Setting Aside a Conviction for Misdemeanor Marijuana Checklist
7
Michigan State Police. Search, Expunge, Modify, or Update Criminal History Records
8
Michigan Courts. Application to Set Aside Conviction(s) – MC 227
9
Michigan Attorney General. Expungement Frequently Asked Questions
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 18 Section 921 – Definitions