It’s a huge task. It’s a problem in every county and circuit. We are trying to figure out the best and most equitable way to go .”
By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent
After three months of going through marijuana cases, Boone County Circuit Judge Christy Blakemore, along with other clerks and judges throughout the state, has come to a conclusion.
It’s not possible to erase those records quickly.
It will cost a lot more to pay overtime to get through the mountain of Boone County expungements by summertime.
Blakemore stated that it is difficult to make progress during normal working hours. “I fear that many of us won’t make the deadlines if we don’t receive an additional appropriation from the state legislature if we don’t get one.”
The automatic expungement provision, which allows people who have served their sentences on past charges to be exonerated from their records without having to petition the court or go through a hearing, was a huge selling point for voters who voted for marijuana legalization.
The courts will need to locate their records and pretend that they have never been charged with marijuana.
Blakemore’s staff, like other state clerks, is working to meet the constitutional amendment deadlines: All marijuana-related misdemeanors and felonies must be extinguished by June 8, and all marijuana-related felonies by Dec 8.
The state court authorities asked legislators for $2.5 million to fund a Supplemental Budget to enable circuit clerks to pay overtime hours.
The House Budget Committee is working on the supplemental budget. It will likely be passed after spring break next week.
While they wait for funding to cover overtime, state clerks have been receiving “paid” in vacation. However, this time will not be available while expungement deadlines loom, Blakemore stated.
Circuit courts received a small amount of overtime money in February through the Missouri Supreme Court Circuit Court Budget Committee, a committee made up 13 judges and clerks who are responsible for overseeing state court funds.
Even if lawmakers approve more money, many circuit courts don’t know what they require because they have never done it before. Steven Ohmer, St. Louis Circuit Judge, chairs the committee. The committee is still trying to determine how to distribute the funds.
Ohmer stated, “It’s an enormous task.” It’s a problem in every county and circuit. We’re trying to figure out the fairest and most equitable way to go.
“A brand new business start-up”
As of March 6, approximately 10,000 expungements had been granted in the state. This means that charges have been dropped and not people. Clay County leads the state with 1,340 expungements.
Boone County currently stands at 21. Blakemore however believes that their numbers should rise rapidly now that they have a better workflow.
Greene County is in the middle, with 316 expungements.
Bryan Feemster, Greene County Circuit Clerk, described the task as “brand new” and called it a “brand-new business startup.”
Feemster stated that they are making changes as needed. “But I believe we’re honing our in on a method that will work pretty well. It will vary from one case to the next.
Feemster stated that he believed they could handle a case in 15 minutes when the court budget committee visited the circuit courts in December in order to estimate overtime and expungements.
He giggles now.
He said, “It’s nowhere near that.”
They expunged their first case in Greene County for a 1971 case that only had one charge. This was a case they believed would be simple.
He said that it took them eight hours to search the archives and find the paperwork. “It wasn’t always where you expected it would be.” It took us about 12 hours to complete the whole process including expungement.
He said that they have learned a lot since then but there are no corners the clerks cannot cut.
To verify that the charge is for marijuana, a clerk must physically open Casenet’s electronic file or the archived written file and look through it.
It then goes to the judge’s office. It is then sent to the judge for approval.
Blakemore and Feemster agreed that redacting was the most eye-opening part of the process.
Blakemore’s “seasoned” clerks take just over an hour to remove all references of marijuana from a case that’s been pending for a while.
However, in cases where marijuana charges are among multiple counts, and that span over years, clerks must redact any mention of marijuana in years of docket entry, motions, and filings.
She said that it takes more than an hour.
Increased funding for employees
Feemster claims that courts will receive more funding if they are able to hire people to lift heavy boxes.
He said, “There’s going be a tremendous amount lifting going on.” These boxes are stacked to the ceiling, probably about 10 feet high in those archives. It’s up-and-down steps and heavy boxes. We’ll need some help.
Blakemore stated that the county cannot speed up the process by hiring and training temporary workers quickly because it is a complex process.
She said, “It’s difficult.” It’s more than just “Oh here, follow these 10 steps” and you’re done. It would have been a bit strange to feel that I had to go back behind them and double-check their work. It’s not worth it.”
She and her team are now coming in on Saturdays in an effort to make some progress in the thousands of records that they must sort through. She said that working weekends is more appealing when you get paid for time-and-a half instead of vacation.
Ohmer stated that although it is called “automatic expungement”, it’s not automatic.
He has been reviewing his cases for drug charges since he was appointed a judge. Ohmer stated that courts respond to petitions and motions so it is a new and tedious process to search for these charges.
Ohmer stated that if someone files a motion to expunge, it can certainly be done. “But, if that doesn’t happen then the court will have to go through thousands or thousands of files going back many decades.”
He said that each expungement requires someone who has legal knowledge to go into each file.
Ohmer stated that there is no simple way to accomplish this. “And so, that’s the boring part.”
Missouri Independent published this story for the first time.
Photo elements courtesy Rawpixel, Philip Steffan.
The post Missouri Courts May Not Meet Marijuana Expungement Deadlines without More Funding was first published on Marijuana Moment.
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