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Crime, Law and Justice
Estelle Timar-Wilcox

Hennepin County Attorney's Office hosts expungement clinic

A woman with short grey hair poses for a photo
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis on Jan. 11, 2023. Old criminal records can stand in the way of people getting jobs and housing, Moriarty said.
Ben Hovland | MPR News 2023

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The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is hosting an expungement clinic next week. 

It’s a chance for anyone with an adult felony case that was prosecuted by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to apply to have their records sealed.   

Old records can stand in the way of people getting jobs and housing, long after they’ve completed the accountability process, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said.

“When a person with a criminal conviction can’t rebuild their life, it can have a negative impact on community safety,” Moriarty said. “It is in all of our interests to make sure that an individual who broke the community’s trust is ready and able to contribute to the community.”

The attorney’s office has been working to make expungement more accessible to people. In October 2020, the office launched an online expungement application.

The office said it gets two or three applications on a typical day, according to Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Nadia Elnagdy, who reviews expungement applications. She said there could be thousands of people eligible across the county.

The state Attorney General’s office saw high turnout at a similar expungement clinic in North Minneapolis last November. They expected it to bring in about 50 people; instead, more than 400 came.

The New Justice Project is a local racial justice organization that’s partnering with the county attorney’s office on next week’s clinic. The organization partnered on the November clinic as well.

“Being able to expunge your record is really about reclamation,” New Justice Project Executive Director Rod Adams said. “Reclamation of your life, reclamation of hope and reclamation of a path forward for you and your loved ones.

Several community organizations — including the Second Chance Coalition, Minnesota Justice Research Center, the Minneapolis NAACP and New Justice Project — will be on site to help with questions and applications.

The clinic is on Wednesday, Feb. 28 from noon to 8 p.m. at the Twin Cities Urban League.