Thousands of old, low-level convictions in CT will be automatically erased over the next month

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that more than 80,000 people in Connecticut are expected to have convictions for certain old, low-level offenses automatically cleared from their criminal records over the next month as the state nears full implementation of the recently enacted Clean Slate Law.

Signed into law by Governor Lamont in 2021, the Clean Slate Law was adopted to remove barriers to jobs, education, and housing that people who have been convicted of low-level offenses have often faced, provided that they have completed their sentences and have remained crime-free for a specified number of years. The goal is to empower people to advance their careers, obtain stable housing, and experience the successful second chance they’ve earned. Read the press release.

Automatic Erasure

Clean Slate automatic erasures are scheduled to be completed by January 31, 2024. Cannabis erasure for convictions for violations of General Statutes § 21a-279(c) imposed between January 1, 2000 and September 30, 2015 were automatically erased on January 1, 2023.

Eligible Offenses

• Any classified or unclassified misdemeanor (imprisonment less than one year), with a seven-year waiting period from the person’s most recent conviction.

• Class D, E, or unclassified felonies (imprisonment less than five years), or any conviction for operating while under the influence (Connecticut General Statutes § 14-227a), with a ten-year waiting period from the person’s most recent conviction.

Ineligible Offenses

• Any conviction, or on after January 1, 2000, for a family violence crime, as defined in section 46b-38a
• Any conviction for an offense that is a nonviolent sexual offense or a sexually violent offense, each as defined in section 54-250
• Any conviction for a violation of section 29-33, 53a-60a, 53a-60b, 53a-60c, 53a-61a, 53a-64bb, 53a-64cc, 53a-72a, 53a-90a, 53a-103a, 53a-181c, 53a-189a (a)(1), 53a-191, 53a-196, 53a-196d,  53a-196f, 53a-211, 53a-212,  53a-216, 53a-217, 53a-217a, 53a-217c, 53a-322, 53a-323, 54-251, 54-252, 54-253, or 54-254 or subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 53a-189a
• Any conviction for a violation of section 14-227a followed by another conviction for section 14-227a within the ten years following.

More on the Clean Slate records erasing.