Governor Kehoe Signs Clean Slate Into Law as Part of Missouri Public Safety Package

Bipartisan policy will automate record sealing for eligible Missourians who meet the requirements

Jefferson City, MO — Earlier today, Governor Mike Kehoe signed SB 1421, an omnibus public safety bill that includes Clean Slate provisions, establishing an automated system to seal eligible drug possession and drug paraphernalia records after a period of time. As a result, Missourians with eligible offenses are on the path to having more access to opportunities once the law is implemented in January 2027.  

“Clean Slate becoming law in Missouri is the result of years of work by advocates, lawmakers, directly impacted people, and community leaders who understood that second chances should not depend on paperwork, court costs, or access to an attorney,” said Sheena Meade, CEO of The Clean Slate Initiative. “This policy has been considered in Missouri for years, has been carefully debated and refined, and this year earned strong bipartisan support from members of both chambers. Its inclusion in a broader public safety bill reflects what we have long known: Clean Slate is a commonsense policy that helps people work, support their families, and move forward.”

37 percent of adults in Missouri have a past arrest or conviction record, most often for old arrests, acquittals, or low-level convictions. While the state expanded petition-based expungement in 2018, the process has remained out of reach for many eligible people because it requires time, money, and legal knowledge. Clean Slate helps solve that problem by allowing the state to use an automated process to seal records that qualify under the law.

Under SB 1421, the law applies only to certain qualifying drug possession and drug paraphernalia convictions. Eligible misdemeanor records may be sealed one year after final disposition, and eligible felony records may be sealed after three years of remaining crime-free. To qualify, a person must have completed all court-ordered terms and conditions, have no recent misdemeanor or felony conviction during the applicable waiting period, and have no pending misdemeanor or felony charges at the time of review. 

Empower Missouri has anchored Clean Slate efforts in Missouri for over four years. “Since our inception, Empower Missouri has focused on the criminal justice system and its impacts,” said Mallory Rusch, Executive Director of Empower Missouri. “Clean Slate is an important step to make sure we help people who have made mistakes, turned their lives around, and long since paid their debt to society. Old records create never-ending barriers to opportunity, and we owe it to Missourians to make sure second chances are real.”

Once eligible records are sealed, they are shielded from appearing on public background checks, which are widely used to screen applicants for employment, housing, educational, and other opportunities. However, courts, prosecutors, law enforcement, and other authorized entities retain access where state law allows. That balance ensures Clean Slate relief is meaningful for eligible Missourians while preserving appropriate public safety uses of records.

“Clean Slate is about making Missouri’s record-sealing laws work the way they were intended,” Meade said. “The state already decided that people should have a pathway to earning a second chance. Clean Slate automation makes that promise real by ensuring relief is applied fairly and consistently, rather than only for those who can afford to pursue it.”

The law includes a January 2027 deadline for state agencies to begin screening and sealing eligible records on a rolling basis. The bill also creates the Missouri Expungement Fund, which may be used to support the technology, systems, software, personnel, and contractors needed to implement expungement and record-closing processes under Missouri law.

“Missouri’s Clean Slate law reflects a simple but powerful idea: when people have paid their debt and stayed on the right path, they should have a fair opportunity to work, provide for their families, and contribute to their communities,” said Patrick Purtill, Executive Vice President of Unify.US. “By automating record sealing for eligible individuals, Missouri is advancing a practical, bipartisan policy that strengthens the workforce, supports economic mobility, and reinforces the values of personal responsibility and second chances.”

“The passage of Clean Slate is a win for Missouri businesses and families," said Maha Jweied, CEO of the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice. "It is good government, pro-workforce, and rooted in a simple idea: people who have completed their sentence and remained crime-free should have a fair chance to contribute.”

With the signing of SB 1421, Missouri became the 14^th state to enact Clean Slate legislation, as well as Washington, D.C. Over 15 million people are eligible to receive full record clearance in the jurisdictions that have passed legislation that meets CSI's policy minimums.

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About The Clean Slate Initiative

The Clean Slate Initiative (CSI) is a national, bipartisan nonprofit organization that works to pass and implement automated record sealing legislation at the state and federal levels. More information about The Clean Slate Initiative is available at cleanslateinitiative.org.