NC resumes automatic expunction, clearing approximately 10,000 cases a week  

In July 2024, Senate Bill 565 became law, starting an improved automated expunction process for certain dismissed and not guilty charges. Thousands of everyday people now have better access to criminal record expunction without having to navigate the complicated process on their own. The NC Justice Center’s Fair Chance Criminal Justice Project contributed to this milestone by working with coalition partners and advocates across the state to ensure that automatic expunction successfully restarted.

More than one million dismissed and not guilty cases immediately became eligible for expungement through the automated process as soon as the law passed. The North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts is now clearing approximately 10,000 cases a week through the automated process. This is a major improvement in comparison to the 15,000 cases a year expunged through the petition-based expunction process.

There are approximately 1.6 million people with a criminal record in North Carolina.  For those people, who are disproportionately from communities of color, a record is a significant barrier to meaningful opportunities like quality employment, affordable housing, and higher education. An expunction, which is the erasure of the record, can be a lifeline to many people.

Reliance on just petition-based expunction leaves more than 90 percent of the people eligible for a North Carolina expunction unable to obtain the relief, placing them in the Second Chance Gap. An inability to navigate the criminal process, lack of awareness, complicated criteria, and financial barriers all contribute to the Second Chance Gap. The passage of SB565 shows that automation—which shifts the burden of expunction from the defendant to the state—is the primary solution to closing the Second Chance Gap and getting people the relief they deserve.

As we celebrate this victory for second chances, we ask that you please take a moment to thank your lawmakers and Governor Cooper for saving the Second Chance Act.