Missouri Expunges More than 140,000 Cannabis Cases

ST LOUIS- Missouri courts have expunged more than 140,000 cannabis-related cases since voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2022 to legalize recreational cannabis. However, the total number of expungements is unlikely to grow significantly beyond this point.

As part of the amendment, courts were mandated to search their records for eligible cannabis-related charges and remove them from individuals’ criminal histories. While Missouri’s largest counties have completed most of this work, some jurisdictions continue to process cases.

Bryan Feemster, Greene County Circuit Clerk, noted that his office is still working through paper records from the mid-1980s. “We may be nearing completion midway this year, but we can’t be sure how many cases remain,” he said.

State records indicate that digital files mostly end around 2014, while Missouri’s first cannabis-related drug laws date back to 1971. However, no strict timeline exists for how far back county courts must search.

Scott Lauck, spokesperson for the 16th Judicial Circuit in Jackson County, reported that their review was completed in December 2023. “According to our criminal records department, we reviewed cases as far back as 1989. That was as far back as we could identify using available reports.”

Despite these efforts, some cases continue to surface. Lauck mentioned that occasionally, new qualifying cases are identified when individuals complete probation. These cases are sent to the sentencing division for additional review.

In St. Louis County, clerks are currently in a “review and redetermination phase” to assess their next steps, according to court spokesperson John O’Sullivan.

The Missouri Supreme Court estimates that approximately 307,000 cases have been reviewed, meaning about 46% of those cases have resulted in expungements. However, this figure does not include paper records, which require a more labor-intensive review process.

For paper records, court clerks must manually examine each criminal record summary, as there is no automated system to identify cannabis-related offenses by criminal code.

Iron County Circuit Clerk Sammye White described the challenge of reviewing old files. “I have scanned through hundreds of indexed records searching for any that indicate a possession or paraphernalia charge,” she said. Once she finds a potential case, she must locate the full record to determine if the charge involved cannabis and whether it qualifies for expungement.

Although Missouri has made significant progress in clearing cannabis-related criminal records, the process remains ongoing in some areas, especially for older paper records that require meticulous manual review.