Year-anchored roundup
Expungement law changes by year — what's new in 2026.
Sealing and expungement law has moved more in the last three years than in the prior decade. Twelve states now run automatic Clean Slate processes; thirty-eight states and DC require a petition. This page tracks every major amendment we've verified, grouped by effective date, with primary-source links.
Effective in 2026
One major change is on the horizon. Virginia's sealing regime — originally enacted in 2021 — has been delayed and substantially amended; July 1, 2026 is the new effective date.
Took effect in 2025
2025 saw the largest single-year batch of expungement reform in recent history. Vermont fully revised its statute, Maryland expanded eligibility, Missouri shortened wait periods, Tennessee reorganized its expungement chapter, and Indiana adjusted its procedure.
- January 1, 2025Missouri
§610.140 reform
Reform to petition-based expungement; expanded eligible offenses and reduced waiting periods to 3 yrs (felony) / 1 yr (misdemeanor).
- April 22, 2025Maryland
SB 432 (Expungement Reform Act 2025)
Expanded petition-eligible offenses and shortened wait periods.
- July 1, 2025Vermont
13 V.S.A. § 7602 revision
Major revision to postconviction expungement (decriminalized conduct) and sealing (qualifying crimes) by petition.
Source ↗ - July 1, 2025Tennessee
2025 reorganization of TCA Title 40 Ch. 32
Dismissal expungements moved to TCA 40-32-106; conviction expungements to 40-32-107/108. New TBI request-for-certification form.
- July 1, 2025Indiana
P.L. 77-2025 (amending IC 35-38-9)
Adjusted petition-based expungement procedure and clarified sealing-effect rules.
Took effect in 2024
New York's Clean Slate Act took effect November 2024 — though full court-system rollout is on a 3-year window. Delaware, Colorado, and Minnesota all started automated sealing processes in 2024.
- January 1, 2024Minnesota
§ 609A.015 (Automatic Expungement)
BCA identifies qualifying records and processes automatic expungement.
Source ↗ - July 1, 2024Colorado
SB22-099 (process; § 13-3-117)
Automated sealing process with eligibility under § 24-72-706.
- August 1, 2024Delaware
11 Del. Code § 4373A
Mandatory automatic expungement; SBI identifies eligible cases monthly.
Source ↗ - November 1, 2024Oklahoma
SB 1770 (single-source-record)
Streamlined OSBI's automatic clean-slate sealing process via a single-source-of-record screen.
- November 16, 2024New York
Clean Slate Act (S.7551A/A.1029C)
Automatic sealing of eligible misdemeanors 3 years after sentence end and felonies 8 years after release.
Source ↗
Took effect in 2023
2023 was the implementation year for Michigan's 2020 Clean Slate Acts; Pennsylvania shipped Clean Slate 3.0; Ohio substantially restructured its sealing regime via SB 288.
- April 4, 2023Ohio
SB 288
Created true expungement (record destruction) alongside sealing; expanded eligibility, shortened waits, removed prior numerical caps.
Source ↗ - April 11, 2023Michigan
Clean Slate Acts (PA 187-193 of 2020) — implementation
Automatic set-aside implementation began April 11, 2023 — 7 years (misdemeanors), 10 years (felonies). DUI excluded from automatic.
Source ↗ - July 1, 2023Pennsylvania
Act 36 of 2023 (Clean Slate 3.0)
Extended automatic sealing to certain less-serious drug felonies; shortened waiting periods to 7 years (misdemeanors) and 5 years (summary offenses).
Source ↗
Why this matters for your case
Whether your record qualifies for sealing depends on what the law said when you were convicted, what the law says today, and in some states what the law will say at the next implementation milestone. The latest Virginia amendment is a clean example — people who would have been eligible under the 2021 framework now wait until July 2026 under the 2025 amendment.
The eligibility quiz uses the current operative version of each state's statute. If you took the quiz a year ago and got a different answer, retake it — the law may have changed.
How we track changes
Each state page and the sources table show the date that state's data was last checked against its primary statute; the dates in the lists above are effective dates. For later changes, check the statute or your state's official court or legislature site. The methodology page explains how entries are checked. Spot something out of date? Email [email protected].
All 50 states and DC
Browse the full state directory for per-state statute citations, wait periods, fees, and procedure. Each state page lists its own recent amendments with primary-source URLs.