More than two years after Missouri voters approved recreational marijuana, courts across the state remain backlogged with expungement cases required by the constitutional amendment, leaving some waiting for promised relief from past convictions.
The 2022 constitutional amendment that legalized cannabis required courts to automatically expunge non-violent marijuana-related offenses involving three pounds or less. The law excludes expungement for cases involving driving under the influence and distribution to minors.
Under the amendment, the deadline for expunging charges was June 2023 for misdemeanors and December 2023 for felonies.
State court data shows Missouri has expunged over 140,000 marijuana cases, representing about 46% of the estimated 307,000 cases reviewed. But according to court administrators, that count excludes thousands of paper records that must be reviewed manually, suggesting the true backlog may be much larger.
“I thought, ‘How in the world are we going to accomplish this?'” recalled Iron County Circuit Clerk Sammye White to The Missouri Independent when she learned her team had one year to review every marijuana case in the county.
The process of reviewing paper records has moved at a snails pace. In smaller counties like Iron County, White spends hours balancing on a stepladder in the courthouse storage room, pulling down heavy boxes of decades-old case files.
Each potential cannabis expungement case requires multiple steps: scanning indexed records for drug charges, locating the physical file, determining if the offense involved marijuana and not another drug, and then seeing if it qualifies for expungement.
The process proves just as complex in urban areas. According to court officials, St. Louis staff must retrieve archived files by van from an old newspaper building, bringing them back to the courthouse for manual review. The physical nature of many records, especially those before the early 2000s, means no shortcuts exist – each file must be individually examined.
Jackson County has expunged just under 3,000 marijuana cases—markedly lower than other counties due to years of de-emphasis on prosecution for marijuana possession.
According to Scott Lauck, spokesman for the 16th Judicial Circuit in Jackson County, the court completed its local review of nearly 20,000 case files in December 2023, going back to 1989. Lauck noted that the county sometimes discovers additional cases as people complete probation, and these cases are sent to the sentencing division for review.
The Missouri legislature approved special funding from the marijuana tax revenue to help courts hire temporary staff and pay overtime. However, many jurisdictions struggle to find qualified workers willing to take on the tedious review process, leading to continued delays.
Courts will continue the review process, though no firm timeline exists for completing all expungements. The constitutional amendment also didn’t specify how far back courts must search, leaving each jurisdiction to determine its own scope.
The delays particularly impact Black communities, who faced disproportionate enforcement of marijuana laws before legalization. According to a 2020 study by the ACLU, Black Missourians were 2.6 times more likely to be arrested for possession than White residents, leaving many still facing barriers to employment, housing and education while waiting for their records to be cleared.
What To Do If Your Record Needs Expungement
If you believe your marijuana charge should be expunged:
- Check your record through the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division or Case.net
- Contact the court where you received the conviction to check your case status
- Consider seeking help from legal aid organizations like Missouri Legal Services or local expungement clinics
- File a formal expungement motion with the court if needed
- For Kansas City area residents, organizations like Legal Aid of Western Missouri and the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office offer expungement assistance
The Missouri Office of State Courts Administrator oversees marijuana expungements and can provide guidance on next steps. Each case requires individual review, as factors like additional charges or circumstances of the offense may affect eligibility. Several organizations offer free or low-cost legal help for those seeking to clear their records.
