Michigan Clean Slate Law: What It Automatically Clears and What It Does Not

How Automatic Sealing Works

Michigan's Clean Slate legislation launched automatic record sealing on April 11, 2023. A computer algorithm inside the Michigan State Police criminal history database runs daily, scanning for convictions that meet the statutory criteria. When one qualifies, the system moves it from the public record into a restricted nonpublic archive — no petition, no court appearance, no fee.

In its first year, the program sealed 1,405,819 records and completely cleared the criminal histories of 283,428 individuals. To date, more than five million convictions have been automatically set aside.

The state does not notify anyone when a record is sealed. There is no letter, no email, no portal update. An ICHAT name search ($10) shows whether the conviction still appears publicly; a fingerprint-based MSP Personal Records Check can show records moved to nonpublic status.

What Qualifies for Automatic Sealing

For misdemeanors, the automatic waiting period runs from sentence imposition. For felonies, the ten-year period runs from the later of sentence imposition or completion of a prison term with the Michigan Department of Corrections. These are different from petition-based waits, which use the latest applicable sentence, probation, parole, or imprisonment date.

Misdemeanors: Up to four eligible misdemeanors punishable by 93 days or more seal automatically after seven years, subject to the exclusions in MCL 780.621g(10). Misdemeanors with a maximum penalty of 92 days or less have no count limit and also seal after seven years under a separate provision.

Felonies: Up to two eligible felonies seal automatically after ten years from the later of sentence imposition or completion of a prison term with the Michigan Department of Corrections.

These limits are lifetime totals. A person may qualify to have up to two eligible felonies automatically sealed; any additional felony relief must be evaluated under the petition rules.

What Blocks Automatic Sealing

The no-new-conviction rule under MCL 780.621g applies to eligible felonies and eligible misdemeanors punishable by 93 days or more: a conviction recorded in the MSP database during the waiting period blocks automatic sealing. A pending criminal charge in that database also prevents set-aside while pending. These conditions do not apply to misdemeanors punishable by 92 days or less.

House Bills 5957 and 5958 cleared the House Criminal Justice Standing Committee but stalled in the Senate during the late-2024 session. The rule remains active.

Beyond the intervening-conviction rule, exclusions for automatic sealing include:

• Life felonies and attempts to commit them
• Most criminal sexual conduct offenses (first, second, and third degree)
• Child abuse in the first or second degree
• Felony domestic violence when the person has a prior DV misdemeanor
• Traffic offenses causing any injury or death
• Traffic offenses committed by a person with a commercial-motor-vehicle endorsement while operating that vehicle or otherwise constituting a commercial-motor-vehicle violation
• First-offense OWI convictions (petition-eligible only)
• Serious misdemeanors in the 93-day-or-more category
• Assaultive crimes, crimes of dishonesty, offenses punishable by 10 or more years, specified offenses involving a minor or vulnerable adult or involving injury, serious impairment, or death, and violations related to human trafficking under MCL 780.621g(10)

Clean Slate vs. Petition: When to File Anyway

Even when a conviction might eventually qualify for automatic sealing, filing a petition can clear the record years sooner. Petition waiting periods are shorter — five years for a single felony versus ten years under the automatic system.

The petition route may provide another path for records the automatic system cannot reach, including serious misdemeanors in the 93-day-or-more category and first-offense OWI. A petition still requires no pending charge and no conviction for any criminal offense during its applicable waiting period. Petition applications have no count limit on misdemeanors and allow up to three felony set-asides, subject to the other statutory requirements.

An estimated 450,000 Michigan residents remain locked out of automatic relief because of the intervening conviction rule alone. A petition may be an option, but it has its own requirements, including no pending charges and no criminal conviction during the applicable waiting period.

How to Verify Your Status

Run an ICHAT search at the Michigan State Police portal. Each search costs $10. If a conviction has been automatically sealed, it will no longer appear in the public results.

For a complete view — including records already moved to nonpublic status — order a fingerprint-based personal records check ($30) using Form RI-008 at a local sheriff's office or MSP post.

Local county court websites are separate from the MSP public record. MCL 780.621g(13) makes the MSP's electronic set-aside record accessible to courts for updating locally maintained court records, but a public docket may not reflect a set-aside at the same time. A conviction may disappear from ICHAT while remaining visible on a county court portal — or the reverse.

The Michigan Expungement & Record Sealing Guide covers both the automatic and petition pathways, including verification steps, forms, and the FCRA dispute process for background checks that still show sealed records.

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