Expungement Expo to help people get their court records sealed

Tulsa World kevin.canfield@tulsaworld.com

TULSA — City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper is joining forces with several public and private organizations to help eligible individuals expunge their court records.

The city’s first Expungement Expo is scheduled for 10 a.m. March 24 at 36th Street North Event Center, 1125 E 36 St. North. The free event is for individuals whose criminal offenses happened in Tulsa County.

“Oftentimes, people who make mistakes, they are not always given a second chance,” HallHarper said. “And that is what expungement can provide — a second chance for people who have paid their debt to society, yet have mistakes that follow them for the rest of their lives.”

Hall-Harper said she got the idea for the expo about a year and a half ago, when she heard of a similar program in Dallas. So she made a visit last spring to see how the program worked.

“Ever since I got back, we’ve been planning this event,” she said.

Expungement refers to the process of sealing records, typically criminal records. Under Oklahoma statutes, there are two ways this can be accomplished.

Individuals who have received deferred sentences typically have their records sealed if they meet all of the conditions set out by the court at sentencing. A second, more complicated and more expensive method of expungement can be initiated by a person convicted of a crime once that person has served his sentence.

Those who are acquitted or have their cases dismissed before trial are also eligible for expungement of their cases.

All expungements are not the same. Those granted after a deferred sentence typically do not cover as many records as those granted to individuals who apply for one after they have completed their sentences.

A wide array of public and private organizations will be represented at the Expungement Expo, including the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office, the Tulsa County Clerk’s Office, Atteberry Law Firm, the city’s Municipal Court and Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma.

“We are anticipating 12 to 15 volunteer attorneys that have said they will come,” Hall-Harper said.

Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said his office looks forward to doing anything it can to assist with the program.

“What we are talking about are people who at one point in their lives crossed the line of the law and have done everything that was expected of them to restore their good name,” Kunzweiler said. “For those people, I have an interest that they can get back into the workforce. We would be more than happy to help because it helps all of us.”

Zerita Dunn, 56, will be one of those people looking for help at the expo. Dunn served nearly 20 months in prison in the 1980s for forgery, she said. Those are felonies that have remained on her record ever since, making it nearly impossible to land a job.

“Oh, my gosh, I tell you what” Dunn said. “I have been through so, so much . ... It is like you are serving a life sentence.”

The Expungement Expo, she said, is a prayer answered.

“I was riding in the car one day and I heard about it on the radio,” she said. “And I said, ‘Thank you, Lord. This is what I have been looking for.’”