The Montana Supreme Court will soon publish a series of forms designed to help a person expunge their cannabis-related convictions under the state’s post-legalization landscape without the necessity of legal representation.
In advance of releasing the forms, the high court on Wednesday issued new guidance for the state’s district courts related to expungements. The four-page rules document signed this week essentially clarifies that those seeking to expunge a cannabis-related crime that’s now legal under the state’s legalization laws can file a petition to do so in the same court in which they were convicted, Supreme Court administrator Beth McLaughlin said.
Montana’s legalization changes eliminated mostly low-level crimes, but dropped some felonies to misdemeanors. Those actively serving a sentence for a charge that is now a lesser offense can likewise petition the court to be resentenced to a lesser sentence.
The self-help forms, which McLaughlin said may be published early next week, will include instructions for the petition to expunge the charge and what’s needed to start the process.
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When lawmakers passed the legalization framework, they included a provision that requires judges to “presume” the person petitioning for expungement satisfies the criteria unless the prosecutor raises an objection. That objection initially had to be “clear and convincing evidence” proving the person did not meet the criteria, but was ultimately watered down to “reasonable basis,” a much lower legal bar to oppose someone’s expungement.
Supreme Court officials said last year expungements were off to a slow start since the measure became available at the beginning of 2021. Judges, prosecutors and public defenders have all been part of the drafting process ahead of the release of the forms, which should be published early next week on the state law library’s website.
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