Missouri’s Clean Slate Is Closer than Ever

For years, automated record-sealing legislation in Missouri has been a promising idea that could not quite make it over the finish line. This year, that could change.

With overwhelming bipartisan support, Missouri’s Clean Slate Act has advanced further than ever before, passing the House with a decisive 140-7 vote and—just last week—being voted out of the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee for the first time.

That kind of progress does not happen by accident. It reflects years of coalition-building, careful policymaking and amending, and a growing recognition that giving a second chance to those with criminal records who remain crime-free is practical and smart policy that protects public safety, creates government efficiency, and boosts the economy in one fell swoop.

Today, Missouri relies on a petition-based record sealing and expungement process that seems to offer relief on paper but often comes up short in practice. The process requires navigating complex paperwork, paying fees, and often hiring an attorney—barriers that put relief out of reach for many people, especially those who would benefit most. In fact, less than 1 percent of currently eligible Missourians ever successfully clear their record.

Clean slate replaces an outdated, inefficient process with a modern, data-driven approach that takes the state’s current list of expungable offenses—including all carve-outs for serious and violent crimes—and automates it. Instead of requiring individuals to navigate a maze of bureaucracy and red tape, it seals criminal records automatically for those who have completed their sentence and remained crime-free for a set period.

In Missouri alone, more than half a million people stand to benefit from expanded record-sealing opportunities. While these individuals are simply trying to work, support their families, and reintegrate into their communities, decades-old criminal records that continue to show up in background checks often hold them back. This is true even for non-convictions.

More than 9 in 10 employers use background checks, and a criminal record can cut a job applicant’s chances of getting a callback in half. Women with records are also 30 percent less likely to receive a callback than men with records are. This translates into fewer jobs, less economic mobility, and a workforce that is artificially constrained. In fact, Missouri loses an estimated $2.6 billion in annual earnings due to the underemployment of people with clearable records.

Employment increases and wages rise when people’s records are cleared, leading to more taxpayers, fewer people relying on public assistance or the “social safety net,” and stronger local economies. It also makes communities safer, as employment status is one of the strongest predictors of recidivism.

That is why clean slate has gained traction across the country in red, blue, and purple states alike. Empowering people by removing government-imposed barriers is a smart way to align public safety and economic growth and to promote individual liberty and prosperity.

Missouri’s progress reflects the persistence of advocates for and legislative champions of the policy. Although this legislation has been introduced and stalled before, Missouri is now within close reach of meaningful record sealing changes.

There is still work to do. Either the House bill (HB 2747) or the Senate bill (SB 854) must pass both chambers to reach the governor’s desk. Furthermore, passing a bill is not the same as implementing it, and states that have adopted clean slate over the past decade have had to navigate the technical and administrative challenges of building automated systems in order to replace an outdated process that no longer serves its intended purpose.

Missouri lawmakers have an opportunity to finish what they have started, moving beyond a system that offers second chances in theory in favor of one that delivers them in practice. If they do, they will not just help individuals with records—they will also strengthen the state’s workforce, improve public safety, and make government work the way it should: effectively, efficiently, and fairly.