The Clean Slate Clearinghouse

Tools to help you understand record clearance policies in your state

Roughly 70 million adults in the U.S. have a criminal record. Additionally, more than one million youth are charged with crimes and acquire juvenile court records each year. Criminal record clearance enables a person’s criminal history information to be removed from easy public access, most often with the goal of improving employment and other outcomes for the affected person. The Clean Slate Clearinghouse provides people with criminal records, legal service providers, and state policymakers with information on juvenile and adult criminal record clearance policies in all U.S. states and territories.

 

The Clean Slate Clearinghouse helps support criminal record clearance around the country by:

  • Providing people with criminal records and non-legal service providers with accurate, up-to-date information on record clearance and mitigation as well as contact information for legal service providers;
  • Creating a community of practice that supports legal service providers currently engaged in record clearance work and gives the tools and resources needed to support new legal service providers; and
  • Giving policymakers the information needed to compare their state’s record clearance policies to the national and regional landscapes and to learn about best practices.
Clean Slate News & Analysis

Just a few decades ago, a criminal record was a piece of paper in a dusty drawer at the courthouse. Now, a record is a digital scarlet letter that follows an individual throughout their public and private life, denying opportunities and stunting personal and professional growth.
Eric Hutchings
State Representative, Utah

Key Staff


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Deputy Program Director, Corrections and Reentry
Chidi Umez provides direction and support for projects that reduce policy barriers to economic opportunity for people with criminal records. Projects in this portfolio address the impact of a criminal record on job participation, occupational licensing, and business engagement. Prior
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to joining the CSG Justice Center, Chidi served as a court attorney in the New York Civil Supreme Court and as an indigent defense attorney in Harris County, Texas. She received a BA in English and corporate communications from the University of Houston and a JD from Texas Southern University, Thurgood Marshall School of Law.
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    Project Manager, Corrections and Reentry
    Josh Gaines focuses on issues involving the collateral consequences of criminal conviction, barriers to work, and relief from the long-term impacts of a criminal record. He previously served as the deputy director of the Collateral Consequences Resource Center, worked extensively
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    on the Restoration of Rights Project, and provided counsel for federal pardon applicants. Josh received his BA in sociology from North Carolina State University and his JD from the Washington College of Law at American University.
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