Has the Law Changed?

Changes in Missouri’s expungement law are continually happening and may make you become eligible to have your record expunged!

Starting on January 1, 2025, the following will change in Missouri expungement law:

1. The maximum number of crimes that a person can have expunged in their lifetime under § 610.140 will increase to three misdemeanors (and/or ordinance violations that have an authorized term of imprisonment) and two felonies.
2. You can no longer automatically count separate crimes contained in the same case as one crime for the purpose of limits on the number of crimes you can have expunged in your lifetime. Instead, you will have to show that the crimes “were committed as part of the same course of criminal conduct.” Unfortunately, there is not a clear definition of what that means, but the crimes being in the same case will not be enough. A recent Court of Appeals case said that, in determining “same course of criminal conduct,” courts should focus “on the defendant’s actions leading up to the charges.”
   
   • Examples:
     • If a person were charged with multiple offenses based on a single action (for example, both stealing and passing a bad check arising out of one incident), that should count as only one felony.
     • The harder cases are where the actions occurred days or weeks apart, but had a common theme (for example, two buys from the same undercover drug operation in a two week period). The law is unclear about that type of situation. The more the two crimes can be linked as to what the defendant did and why, the more likely it will meet the standard.
3.  The effect of an expungement is to fully restore the civil rights of a person including the right to vote, the right to hold public office, and the right to serve as a juror. 
4. In order to improve readability, some statutes that have been replaced or transferred to other statute numbers have been removed from the ineligible list in section 3.6 (previously 2.6). They are still not expungable because that section now covers crimes regardless of whether they are now, were previously, or are a newer version of a statute that is on the list.
5. The following have been added to the list of ineligible crimes:
   • 566.116: Sexual Conduct with a nursing facility resident or a vulnerable person, second degree
   • 573.200: Child used in sexual performance
   • 573.205: Promoting sexual performance by a child
   • 574.140: Cross burning
6. The testimony of a victim at an expungement hearing can no longer serve as the sole reason for a judge’s decision on whether to grant an expungement, but a court may find that the continuing impact of the crime on the victim can justify denying an expungement.
7. People seeking an expungement for an arrest will be able to petition for expungement eighteen months after the date of their arrest under §610.140 rather than having to wait three years.
8. A person can answer “no” to an employer’s inquiry into whether a person has ever been arrested, charged, or convicted of a crime if a person has been granted an expungement and the person has no public record of a crime.