Will County starts wiping pot cases from records
Officials expunging more than 1,600 low-level marijuana possession offenses; older cases delayed
More than 1,600 people with low-level cannabis possession cases in Will County will have those cases wiped from their records in 2021.
The court motion granted Dec. 29 approves removing all records in 1,653 cannabis, or marijuana, cases. The motion follows a 2019 state law that removes cannabis possession cases involving up to 30 grams from people’s records.
State’s Attorney James Glasgow said the action “will help these individuals move forward with their lives and place their convictions permanently behind them.”
The first set of cases, dating from Jan. 1, 2013 to June 25, 2019, were to be expunged by Jan. 1.
Cases dating from 2000 through 2012 must be expunged by Jan. 1, 2023. Offenses before 2000 must be expunged by the start of 2025, under the state law. In all, Will County has more than 11,000 cases eligible for automatic expungement under state law, Glasgow said.
Wiping records clear of a lowlevel drug offense can help open doors for jobs and other opportunities, attorneys said.
“In today’s world, virtually all employers run some sort of background check on people applying for a job,” said Chuck Bretz, a Joliet defense attorney. “Having a drug offense removed could be pivotal in giving someone a fair chance to apply for the job on the merits of their own credentials.”
Though Glasgow’s motion for the first batch of cases was approved, it doesn’t mean records have been cleared just yet, said county Circuit Court Clerk Andrea Lynn Chasteen. Case files must still go through a process to be physically removed and police departments must still discard any information related to the cases. Other loose ends include removing unpaid fees associated with the cases from the record, Chasteen said.
Chasteen said her office is developing a process to inform people about the law, and for people to request the records showing the expungement was processed.
“We started having inquires the second the order was signed,” she said.
She anticipates being able to offer certification of expungements within the next couple of
months after court records have been cleared and police departments have discarded information. Information also will be provided on the clerk’s website and social media sites,
Chasteen said.
Those with offenses involving possession of between 30 to 500 grams of marijuana can petition to have their records expunged, but prosecutors can review the cases and file objections, according to state law. Although Glasgow’s motion does not address those cases, Bretz said he has worked with clients in getting those cases removed from criminal records aswell.
“We have found that the Will County courts and the Will County state’s attorney’s office have been very reasonable in addressing issues of people seeking relief of either getting a past incident expunged or sealed as it is appropriate under the law,” said Bretz.
Glasgow said he hopes to file a motion to expunge the next batch of cases, from 2000 through 2012, as early as the end of this year.