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Clerk and reentry director push automatic expungements and stronger reentry supports
Summary
Criminal court clerk Heidi Kuhn described nearly 10,000 expungements handled by her office and urged an incremental 'automatic expungement' for dismissed or 'no pros' cases; the committee also backed reentry resources and reemployment incentives.
Heidi Kuhn, criminal court clerk, told the committee her office has processed nearly 10,000 expungements since she was elected and is working toward statewide reforms that would streamline and, in some cases, automate expungement for cases dismissed or 'no pros.' "One thing I'm looking at is what's called an automatic expungement," Kuhn said, describing a proposal that would allow certain cases to be expunged in the courtroom without separate applications.
Speakers including DeAndre Brown (Office of Reentry) and the public defender emphasized the need to remove legal and financial barriers to reintegration. Brown described employer incentives and a surety-bond program of up to $5,000 to encourage hiring of people with records and outlined efforts to restore voting rights and other civil participation pathways. The committee signaled support for an incremental automatic-expungement step as a near-term legislative ask and endorsed prioritizing reentry resources as part of its unified agenda.
The panel asked county staff to draft statutory language for the automatic-expungement measure, map the fiscal impacts and identify partnerships to expand reentry services and employer incentives.
