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Budget committee backs retroactive $250,000 grant to Public Defender’s Clean Slate unit
Summary
The Budget and Finance Committee voted to forward a resolution authorizing the San Francisco Public Defender to accept a $250,000 Crane~Start Foundation grant to fund the office’s Clean Slate unit, which provides expungement and conviction-vacatur services.
The Budget and Finance Committee on Jan. 29 voted to forward to the full Board of Supervisors a resolution authorizing the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office to accept and expend a $250,000 grant from the Crane~Start Foundation to support its Clean Slate unit.
The grant, retroactive to the July 1, 2024 start of the fiscal year, will fund an existing managing attorney position in the Clean Slate unit and cover the period through June 30, 2025. Public Defender Manod Raju and Clean Slate manager Kelly Pretzer presented details to the committee and thanked Supervisor Walton’s office, the mayor’s office and the controller for their assistance getting the resolution prepared.
The Clean Slate unit provides expungement and motions to vacate convictions, and works with survivors of trafficking and domestic violence and noncitizens seeking immigration relief. Pretzer told the committee the unit receives about 1,500 new applications a year and files roughly 1,900 motions annually. She said Clean Slate has expunged about 60,000 records since its founding in 1999 and that the unit includes seven staff members: two Crane~Start-funded attorneys, 1.5 paralegals/warrant clerk (city-funded for two years), a social worker, and a half-time clerk funded by the city.
Chair Supervisor Connie Chan moved to forward the resolution to the full board with a positive recommendation; the clerk recorded a roll call of three ayes (Supervisor Matt Dorsey, Supervisor Joanne Gardio and Chair Chan) and the motion passed.
The resolution package includes a retroactive grant agreement dated Oct. 10, 2024; the controller’s office and the mayor’s office approved the package Nov. 18, 2024, and Supervisor Walton introduced the resolution Nov. 19, 2024.
