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With marijuana now legal in Missouri, most past convictions involving the drug are set to be expunged. But actually making that happen is proving to be easier said than done.

Under Amendment 3, which made legalized recreational marijuana use for adults part of the Missouri Constitution, all past marijuana offenses, including both felonies and misdemeanors, except in cases involving violence, distribution to minors, or driving under the influence, are required to be expunged by the end of this year. Expungement orders for misdemeanor convictions for past marijuana offenses by people no longer under Department of Corrections supervision are supposed to be completed by June 8, and by Dec. 8 for felonies.

In Franklin County, officials are working on these expungements, but getting them processed on time poses a significant challenge, they say, and something they may not be able to meet.

In an interview this week, 20th Circuit Court Presiding Judge Craig Hellmann and Circuit Court Clerk Connie Ward said they have been in touch on a regular basis with other court officials throughout the state about the expungement process.

Ward said she has more than 5,000 cases she is reviewing, which only includes cases from roughly the past decade, where digital records are available. There are also untold numbers of cases that are supposed to be expunged in which the only records are on paper, dating back to 1971.

“So that consists of pulling index cards, finding the case, the charge, and then going to the historic courthouse, where our files are kept in the basement, and pulling those files manually and looking at the paper files,” Ward said, adding that she has no idea how many cases that might include.

Ward said she has already received calls from people asking when their conviction will be expunged, but she can't promise she'll be able to expedite the process just because they called.

Already, in reviewing cases, some problems have come up that weren't anticipated at the start of the process.

“In the beginning, you know, we were thinking ‘OK, if it's this description of a charge code, we know it's an easy look, this one can go to the judge for review,'” Ward said. As it turns out, though, with many charge codes using vague language, such as “possession of a controlled substance” — which could mean something other than marijuana — court clerks are having to review cases in greater detail.

In Warren County, Circuit Court Clerk Tim Beard recently told the Warren County Record that he considers an estimate of more than 800 hours in additional work for his office related to marijuana expungements “a very low figure.”

Ward said this week that she agreed with that assessment — and also expressed doubt that her office will be able to meet the deadline at all.

“Based on the number of cases that we have in Franklin County compared to other counties — now there are other counties that are bigger than we are of course and have more cases — but, honestly, I'm not optimistic that we will be able to meet the deadline with all the cases. I'm not saying that I'm not going to try and I'm not currently trying, but it's a big undertaking to try to get these done,” she said.

Even before Amendment 3 passed in November, the Missouri Supreme Court requested nearly $7 million to help pay for the administrative costs of the marijuana expungements. Ward said the 20th Circuit has applied for some of that funding, but it hasn't materialized yet. She said if the funding does come through, court administrators would likely try to hire additional personnel to assist with the expungements, but added that even before the amendment passed, she was already looking to hire people to replace staff who have retired, with little success.

Another expense, Ward said, is the cost of mailing copies of expungement orders to the various law enforcement agencies, prosecuting attorneys, and probation and parole officers involved in each case, as well as to the defendants themselves.

“Most people from two years ago, let alone 10 years ago, don't live in the same place, so we're going to get all this returned mail back that's never going to be delivered, but we then have to process and make record that (it) was returned undeliverable. So it's quite a lengthy process from beginning to end to get those done,” she said.

“I also wish that we could have been given a little more time to prepare, to get guidance from the Supreme Court down to the Office of State Courts Administrator for procedures on how this is to be handled. A lot of the burden for figuring that part of it out is also put on the circuit clerks with trying to figure out how to do this,” she added.

“The circuit clerks across the state do continually communicate with each other. You know, ‘How do you do this? Have you come across this problem yet?' So daily there are emails being circulated throughout the state with circuit clerks that I rely on, and I also contact the other circuit clerks in our circuit.”

Hellmann said that judges across the state, too, are discussing the issues brought up by the expungement requirements at their regular meetings.

“Just in terms of the impact it has had on the staff. ‘Is it working? How are you dealing with it in the 20th as opposed to or compared to the 15th?' And it's good to have those type of conversations,” he said. However, Hellmann said that the answers to questions that are coming up are far from set in stone.

Both Ward and Hellmann said when it comes to marijuana expungements following the passage of Amendment 3, court officials are having to figure the process out as they go along. For those who are currently incarcerated and need to get their marijuana-related conviction expunged, the state has posted a petition form online at https://www.courts. mo.gov/file.jsp?id=191073.