DEARBORN — The city of Dearborn, the Michigan Department of Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office and Safe and Just Michigan are partnering to host an expungement fair to help as many Dearborn residents as possible to get their chance at having a clean record, the city said Monday.

The fair will be held on Friday, Oct. 21 from 12-4 p.m. in the Lincoln Ballroom at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Avenue.

Under Michigan law, an expungement is the removal of eligible misdemeanors and felonies from a person’s public record.

The new “Clean Slate” law in the state expands eligibility to petition for an expungement in several ways and creates a new process that will automatically seal certain non-violent conviction records if a person has remained conviction-free for a period of time — seven years for misdemeanors, 10 years for felonies.

By law, expungement applications are first processed by the Michigan State Police (MSP). Once the MSP has completed a thorough background check of the applicant, the Department of Attorney General must review applications prior to court appearances.

As of April 11, 2021, a person convicted of one or more criminal offenses, including felonies but not more than a total of three felonies, may petition the convicting court to set aside the convictions. A new state expungement webpage lets Michiganders access the filing and service requirements and a checklist specifically designed for this part of the expungement law.

A person convicted of one or more misdemeanor or local ordinance marijuana crimes may petition the convicting court to set aside the convictions if they were based on activity that would not have been a crime after December 6, 2018 – when a 2018 voter-passed initiative to legalize recreational use of marijuana in Michigan went into effect.

For more information on the law, visit safeandjustmi.org/our-work/clean-slate-for-michigan.

Pre-registration is required. Limited walk-ins will be allowed on the day of the event.