San Francisco Public Defender’s Office celebrates 25 years of its Clean Slate Expungement Program

State laws recently expanded eligibility for cleaning up criminal records, adding to the demand for vital expungement services throughout California

San Francisco – On Oct. 3, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office celebrated 25 years of its Clean Slate expungement program that helps people clean up their criminal records, opening up opportunities for jobs, housing and career advancement. The Public Defender Clean Slate program has assisted approximately 60,000 people with expungement services. At the event, the program was awarded a certificate of honor from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which was presented by Supervisor Ahsha Safai and staff from Supervisors Shamann Walton and Aaron Peskin, and a certificate of recognition from the California State Legislature presented by staff from the office of Assemblymember Phil Ting. The event was co-hosted by Californians for Safety and Justice, whose TimeDone program worked to pass and implement SB 731, which expanded eligibility and automates some expungements in California.

The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office started its Clean Slate program in 1999 under the leadership of the late Public Defender Jeff Adachi. Adachi was the chief attorney at the time under the administration of Jeff Brown. The program has grown to expand the number of people it can serve under the leadership of the current elected Public Defender Mano Raju. The goal of Clean Slate is to open up opportunities for people to overcome barriers to housing, employment and professional licensing and other opportunities that are often hindered by having a criminal record, even decades after an arrest or conviction. 

“Clean Slate restores hope and enhances lives, which is a benefit to the whole community,” said Raju. “We appreciate all the support we’ve gotten for the Clean Slate program over the past 25 years. As more people become eligible for expungement, we continue to advocate for permanent and sufficient funding so that our skilled staff can continue to provide the vital, hands-on work these expungement motions require.” 

Expungement eligibility in California recently expanded under SB 731, which was signed into law in 2022 and built upon AB 1076 from 2019. Together, the bills require the creation of a comprehensive process allowing people to expunge old conviction and arrest records once a person has fully completed their sentence and successfully gone four years without further contact with the legal system. These laws also require the California Department of Justice to automatically and electronically expunge misdemeanors and some felony convictions, while people living with felony convictions that the law considers more serious have the opportunity to petition a judge to have those convictions expunged.

“The thousands of restrictions faced by Californians living with an old conviction record make it harder for these community members to rebuild productive and full lives,” said Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice, whose organization advocated for the passage and implementation of SB731. “We celebrate Clean Slate’s work and look forward to continuing to tear down systems that disenfranchise and create barriers that disproportionately impact people and communities of color who deserve to thrive.” 

“When I was young, I made some wrong decisions, but I got on the right path for my children and never looked back. Even though I went back to school and have excelled in my career, my record still followed me in many ways that impacted my family. Getting a clean slate is a heavy weight to have taken off of you. When you change your life and get on the right path, you deserve a second chance,” said DiJaida Durden, who was granted a Certificate of Rehabilitation by the court with the help of the Public Defender Clean Slate team.

Millions of Californians are eligible for various types of expungement, including: certificates of rehabilitation, reduction of certain convictions, sealing records of arrests and certain convictions, and findings of factual innocence. While some records may still appear on certain kinds of background checks, having an expungement can help alleviate the harm caused by those records. 

People interested in expungement support in San Francisco can contact the Clean Slate team at San Francisco Public Defender’s Office at sfpublicdefender.org. To learn more about Californians for Safety and Justice’s TimeDone initiative, visit timedone.org.  

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