Oregon’s legislators have made some changes to ORS 137.225, commonly referred to as the expungement statute. So what’s the big news? More people than ever are now eligible to move forward with their expungements. Having a clean slate can positively affect someone’s work, family, and emotional life.

Most of the changes are positive, and all changes go into effect January 1, 2016.

Let’s start with the good stuff:

1. Convictions for B Felony drug possession crimes will now be eligible for expungement without having to wait 20 years. This covers people convicted of possessing heroin, LSD, MDMA/ecstasy, psilocybin, and other schedule 1 controlled substances.
2. Allows one non-traffic violation conviction without re-tolling the ten year waiting period for an expungement. This means that someone with an eligible misdemeanor or felony conviction and a violation conviction can have the misdemeanor or felony expunged now, rather than waiting 10 years from the date of the violation conviction. What is a non-traffic violation? Some examples are: nonpayment of trimet fare, theft or other misdemeanor reduced to a violation, pcs less than an ounce.

Here’s the not-so-good stuff:

1. If the probation was revoked for non-compliance the waiting period to apply for expungement is now ten years from the date the probation was revoked.
2. Prohibits expungement of Assault III if the victim was under ten years old at the time of the offense.

Overall, this is good news. The numbert of people who are now free to move forward with their expungements far outweighs those who are now ineligible or are required to wait a longer term before expungement. Have questions about your own case? Ready to make a fresh start in 2016? Give me a call; I would love to help.