Denver will help expunge records

Mayor wants to help those involved with low-level crimes

Colorado may be the mecca of legal marijuana, but the state’s old drug laws still loom large. More than 10,000 people in Denver alone were convicted of low-level cannabis crimes between 2001 and 2013.

Those offenses — such as possessing the drug or paraphernalia — would not be illegal today, but they still haunt many people’s criminal records.

Now, the city of Denver will help anyone convicted in municipal court in the past to clear those records. Mayor Michael Hancock has ordered a “citywide effort” to vacate and expunge low-level marijuana convictions for residents.

“For too long, the lives of lowincome residents and those living in our communities of color have been negatively affected by lowlevel marijuana convictions,” he said in a news release issued Tuesday morning. “This is an injustice that needs to be corrected, and we are going to provide a pathway to move on from an era of marijuana prohibition that has impacted the lives of thousands of people.”

People already can try to expunge records on their own, but

city now will proactively help them, said Theresa Marchetta, Hancock’s spokeswoman. The city’s effort won’t help those convicted in state court.

Last week, the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office announced that it would vacate and seal thousands of marijuana posses- sion convictions. Denver officials haven’t said whether they will take a single action to clear thousands of cases, or whether they might help people clear their records individually.

The announcements are part of a years-long evolution of Colorado’s justice system, according to trial lawyer Colin McCallin. Until a few years ago, it was exceedingly difficult and costly to clear criminal charges — much less conthe — from a person’s record, he said.

In 2017, a new state law allowed people to seal records of misdemeanor use and possession convictions, though they’re still required to pay filing fees.

Denver and other cities also have opened the door for people to clear some low-level convictions from their record. “There’s already some mechanisms in place for a person with a low-level conviction to seal their conviction,” said McCallin, who previously worked with the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Hancock hasn’t announced the exact details of the new program, but McCallin says there are several ways it could go, “depending on how proactive the Denver city government would be on this.”

The city could simply provide help for people who want to use the existvictions ing process, which typically involves a $65 filing fee. Or the Denver City Attorney’s Office could “take the proactive step of filing their own request to seal en masse all of those cases,” he said. The mayor also could issue an executive order, McCallin added.

But he cautioned that the effort could require the support of state agencies like the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and it could raise tough questions.

“What is going to be considered a low-level offense for marijuana? Does it matter how many offenses a person has?” he asked.

One thing is clear, he said: There’s plenty of room for the city to help. “I’m sure there are a ton of people out there who have these convictions who weren’t even aware that they can go to court and petition to get that expunged.”

Coloradans voted to legalize marijuana in 2012.