Panel advances technical fixes to cannabis expungement law, adopts amendments and sends bill to floor

Senate File 204, a bill making technical corrections to the automatic cannabis expungement framework and to procedures for the Cannabis Expungement Board, was amended, adopted and recommended to the Senate floor by the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee on March 12.

Sponsor remarks summarized the board’s jurisdiction: it reviews felony-level cannabis convictions that did not involve dangerous weapons or violent acts and where the conduct would not be a felony under current law. The sponsor said the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension identified approximately 98,000 historical records for potential review and that the board has begun an initial phased review.

Jim Router, executive director of the Cannabis Expungement Board, described the board’s staffing and hiring progress. Mark Hasey, deputy director and general counsel, detailed the board’s eligibility review and public-safety analysis, and the operational changes sought in the amendment. Hasey said the board has begun reviewing cases and reported the board approved 48 expungements and denied one at a recent board meeting; he estimated the staff could process roughly 100 cases per month in the near term and many more once additional staff are in place.

The sponsor explained the amendment addresses two drafting oversights from 2023: ensuring all intended cannabis offenses fall within the board’s statute and allowing courts to seal entire records in multi-count cases when other counts were dismissed or are eligible for automatic sealing. Hasey said the language was crafted with Court Administration to enable sealing of an entire electronic record when appropriate and administratively feasible.

After testimony and questions, including clarifying whether dismissed non-cannabis counts could be sealed in appropriate cases, the committee adopted the author's amendment (A5 incorporating A6) and recommended Senate File 204, as amended, to the Senate floor.