Is Expanding Eligibility Enough?: Improving Record Sealing Access and Transparency in Ohio Courts
Ohio State Legal Studies Research Paper No. 764
Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, April 2023
22 Pages Posted: 11 Apr 2023
Date Written: April 7, 2023
Abstract
The collateral consequences stemming from a criminal conviction are far reaching and long-lasting, affecting people’s ability to obtain housing, diminishing employment opportunities, and limiting educational attainment. In the last decade, some research has shown that record sealing and record expungement can have significant benefits for individuals through increased economic prosperity and for communities through reduced recidivism. Unfortunately, research also indicates that in states that require individuals to file a petition to get their record sealed, only a small percentage of eligible individuals take advantage of this remedy. Over the last decade, the Ohio General Assembly significantly broadened eligibility criteria for record sealing and expungement. But whether laws focused solely on broadening eligibility have a significant impact on record sealing utilization remains an understudied topic. The data from our research indicates a 55% increase in the number of granted record sealing applications in the state of Ohio from 2011 to 2021, but also suggests a relatively low rate of uptake when compared to the potential pool of eligible residents. Additionally, we report on the lack of jurisdiction specific data resulting in inability to compare utilization rate across jurisdictions, as well as lack of accurate and up to date information about eligibility criteria and record sealing forms on court websites. In conclusion we provide a set of recommendations for addressing identified challenges.
Keywords: Record sealing, record expungement, Ohio courts, availability of record sealing and expungement, utilization of record sealing and expungement, uptake of record sealing, record sealing and expungement eligibility, record sealing and expungement expansion
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