Illinois Expungement Lawyer Blog

As I've previously discussed in various blog entries, one of the primary reasons a person retains me to file a Petition to Expunge, Petition to Seal, or Petition for Executive Clemency with Authorization to Expunge is to obtain new or better employment. Obviously the client's criminal background is presenting a significant hurdle to be overcome with regards to landing a job offer, securing an interview, or even keeping a present job. Also, a person's criminal record can present problems to be dealt with in the housing arena. Once retained by a client, I am happy to explain how we intend to pursue relief from that client's criminal record pursuant to the Illinois Criminal Identification Act to a prospective employer or landlord. Sometimes an explanation of the processes by which the client is able to clear his or her criminal record will be sufficient to allow an employer, landlord or other entity to remain patient with that client while he or she works with me to draft and file necessary type of petition to obtain relief from his or her criminal record. The text below represents a redacted version of one such letter written to a current client's prospective employer. If a new or existing boss or landlord has asked you to provide similar explaining Illinois criminal records law please contact me to discuss the details of your situation and how I can draft something to hopefully buy YOU some time while your petition is pending before a court or, alternatively, the Illinois Governor.

"January 23, 2012

Mr. ------------------
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VIA FACSIMILE ----------

RE: -----------------, CANDIDATE FOR EMPLOYMENT

Dear Mr. ----------:

I have been retained by Mr. ------- to prepare a Petition for Executive Clemency with Authorization to Expunge one (1) conviction from a ----- case in ----- County, Illinois. My client has asked me to prepare a brief letter explaining the process by which he can "clear" his criminal record, which, as I understand, consists solely of this single indiscretion. Accordingly, please take the following paragraphs as explanation of what you and he can expect to happen next pursuant to Illinois law on the subject matter at issue.

Basically, the Illinois Criminal Identification Act (hereinafter "the Act"), specifically 20 ILCS 2630/5.2 et seq., sets forth the requirements an individual must meet in order to pursue either expungement or sealing of his or her criminal record in Illinois. In a nutshell, if a person has even a single conviction, as defined by the Act, on his or her record (either in Illinois or elsewhere) he or she is not eligible to have any portion of his or her record expunged. The Act defines "expungement" to mean either the physical destruction of the individual's records or else the return of said records to the individual, so that such records are no longer available for any other person or entity to see. See 20 ILCS 2630/5.2(a)(1)(E). Moreover, the Act defines the term "conviction" to include not only a sentence of jail or prison time, which is not applicable in Mr. ---------'s situation, but also a sentence of probation or conditional discharge, or even payment of a fine. See 20 ILCS 2630/5.2(a)(1)(C). Because Mr. ----------- was given a sentence of probation (which he ultimately satisfied), he is deemed to have a "conviction" on his record, thus rendering him ineligible for outright expungement. Mr. ---------- is also not eligible to have this single conviction "sealed" by the Court, as pursuant to the Act, only three felony offenses are eligible for the remedy of sealing. See 20 ILCS 2630/5.2(a)(1)(K) for the definition of the term "seal") and 20 ILCS 2630(c)(2)(F).

A person in Mr. ---------'s situation is not left without remedy under the Act, however. Pursuant to 20 ILCS 2630/5.2(e), an individual who has been granted a pardon which specifically authorizes expungement by the Illinois Governor to seek an expungement from the original sentencing court. Basically, a person with an otherwise non-expungeable conviction on his or her criminal record may file a Petition for Executive Clemency with Authorization to Expunge with our state's Governor and, essentially, receive "permission" to file an expungement with the court that originally entered the conviction at issue. Of course executive clemency, or a pardon, is considered to be an "extraordinary" remedy and therefore it is not automatically granted. Instead, there are many factors which are considered by the Governor when deciding these types of petitions; some of the factors are the length and totality of the individual's criminal record, the length of time that has passed since the last conviction, the circumstances surrounding the conviction(s) at issue, what the individual has been doing in the time that has passed since the conviction(s) at issue and ultimately, the reason(s) why the individual is seeking this extraordinary relief. My professional opinion is that Mr. ----------- has a very good chance at obtaining a pardon allowing him to pursue expungement in the Circuit Court of ------ County based upon the factors set forth above. Though it may seem duplicative, these same factors just discussed are also considered by the Presiding Judge of the Court considering the Petition to Expunge and I therefore believe Mr. -------- also has a very good chance at ultimately getting an expungement petition granted. Once a Petition to Expunge has been granted by the Presiding Judge the arresting agency, the Illinois State Police and the Circuit Court records are to be expunged within sixty days of service of the Order to Expunge. See 20 ILCS 2630/5.2(d)(9)(A) et seq. Ultimately, the expungement of an individual's criminal record(s) means that the individual can legally answer, on an employment application or otherwise, that he or she has not been convicted of the criminal offense(s) at issue. A background check of the individual's record should also not reflect any conviction of the expunged offense(s). In practical terms, it wipes the slate clean to allow the individual to move forward with his or her life and obtain better employment, housing, etc.

I hope this letter sufficiently explains the process of executive clemency (i.e., a pardon) and expungement within the State of Illinois. Should you have any follow up questions on the subject I would be happy to discuss them with you and can be reached at 847-922-8683.

Very truly yours,

Jorie K. Johnson
Attorney at Law"

On or about December 6, 2011 Illinois Governor Quinn released decisions on a total of two hundred six pending applications for pardons, including petitions for executive clemency, according to local news source CBS Chicago. Specifics about the type of petitions the Governor granted were scarce; for example, I was not able to find details about how many petitions for executive clemency were granted or denied, or even more specifically, how many of those were petitions for executive clemency with authorization to expunge. The articles I found did mention, however, that at least one previously convicted and currently incarcerated man's sentence was commuted without granting him a full pardon.

This news is encouraging for the thousands of individuals still awaiting decisions on their own petitions for executive clemency with or without authorization to expunge. Of course, we'd all like to see more progress being made on the backlog of petitions, but this is most certainly better than former Illinois Governor Blagojevich did while he was in office. Keep plugging away, Governor Quinn and thanks for your efforts in this regard!

It seems to be a common trend that clemency petitions in Illinois are decided just prior to major holidays in our state/country. In keeping with that tendency, Governor Quinn addressed an additional one hundred seventy three petitions for executive clemency on September 2, 2011 by granting seventy four and denying ninety nine. The petitions Governor Quinn decided ranged in dates from 2004 through 2007.

This gubernatorial action brings the total number of petitions he's acted upon since taking office on January 29, 2009 (after former Governor Blagojevich's impeachment and removal from office) to one thousand five hundred twenty nine. In total, Governor Quinn has granted five hundred ninety one petitions by granting five hundred eighty new pardons and by authorizing expungement on eleven previously granted petitions and he has denied a total of nine hundred thirty eight petitions for clemency.

This information was gathered from the State of Illinois News webpage which combines articles from the Illinois Government News Network as well as all Illinois press releases.

Please join me at this year's Expungement Summit sponsored by The Honorable Dorothy Brown, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. I, along with many others, will be volunteering my time to assist those in need of free legal advice in order to successfully clean off past criminal records in Cook County, Illinois.

The 2011 Expungement Summit will take place at the Apostolic Church of God located at 6320 South Dorchester Avenue, Chicago, Illinois; registration begins at 8:30 a.m. on June 4, 2011 and I highly recommend getting there as early as possible.

Click here for additional information, including a link to the official event flyer, about this event.

Hope to see you there!

Until today, I had no idea that there are a handful of websites in existence that supposedly devote their resources to assisting individuals "clear off" their criminal records at a "more reasonable" or "reduced" rate. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised as ultimately you can find pretty much any type of service being offered in this capitalistic society we live in. However, having just spoken to a new potential client who retained one of these non-lawyer "services" to assist him in "clearing off" his criminal record (he was given no specific advice as to what type of relief the service would be pursuing on his behalf, nor is he able to directly contact the company to ask), I was appalled to find out that essentially, the (unnamed) service at issue simply accepted his several hundred dollars in exchange for nothing, as this man simply doesn't qualify for expungement or sealing relief in Illinois. (See previous blog entries for details on what is or is not eligible for expungement or sealing in Illinois.)

After speaking with this potential new client (ultimately, he needs to pursue a petition for executive clemency with authorization to expunge for his felony class 3 theft conviction) to discuss his options, I decided to look into the so-called "expungement companies" to see what they're all about. Let me assure you I was less than impressed with the results. During my internet search, I first came across a website that purported to rank these various companies (see www.expungesite.com/services/services.htm). This website specifically referenced its "own rating system" without telling us what that system actually is and then, in a separate blog entry proceeded to slam the well-established Better Business Bureau (which, as an aside they didn't even manage to spell correctly when referring to it as the "'Beter' Business Bureau") as having a totally biased rating system (see http://news.expungesite.com/2010/07/beter-business-bureau.html). This obviously led me to correctly surmise that the BBB had less-than-positive reviews to report about these types of companies. (See, for example, BBB reviews of Records Removal Services; American Pardon Services a/k/a Canadian Pardon Services; Clear My Record.com a/k/a Expungement Assistant Service, Removeit.org, New Beginnings, etc.)

The bottom line is that none of these services is able to give proper legal advice, as customers simply aren't dealing with licensed attorneys. In Illinois, only a licensed attorney is able to give another person legal advice. (See Rule 5.5 of the 2010 Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct). There is a reason that after receiving my college degree I spent three difficult years in law school, had to take a two-day bar exam to become licensed as an attorney in Illinois, and am required to take no less than thirty (30) hours of Continuing Legal Education courses every two years. While of course it would be appealing, especially to an individual likely having difficult obtaining or keeping a job because of his/her criminal record, to pay less for relief from one's criminal record, ultimately there seems to be some truth in the saying "you get what you pay for". Personally, as an ethical attorney who is truly dedicated to the best interests of my clients, I keep my professional fees as low as possible and always offer flexible payment plans for my services. Ultimately, however, it is my professional opinion that no one should ever allow a "forms preparation service" or other untrained professional attempt to evade the Illinois state law prohibiting anyone not licensed by our state bar from giving legal advice to "handle" this sensitive and increasingly more important issue in our society - seeking relief from one's criminal record.

I often receive phone calls from pro se petitioners (individuals who have previously filed their own Petitions for Executive Clemency), as well as other attorneys, inquiring about how to check the status of their own/their client's petition. Even though petitions are addressed directly to our state governor, they are initially sent to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board in Springfield, Illinois. The Board is comprised of individuals who are present at the public hearings available to all petitioners, and the Board makes confidential recommendations to the Governor on whether a petition should be granted or denied. Moreover, the Prisoner Review Board is the entity who keeps track of the status of an individual's petition.

Inquiries about the status of a Petition for Executive Clemency should be directed to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, 319 East Madison Street, Suite A, Springfield, Illinois 62701. Their contact telephone number is (217) 782-7273 and their website is located at http://www2.illinois.gov/prb/Pages/default.aspx. Please keep in mind that the Board gets frequent phone calls to inquire about status of these petitions and they have a limited staff; please be patient with the Board while waiting for a response to your inquiry.

"I am a solo practitioner attorney who devotes a significant portion of my practice to criminal records law.

I represent many individuals in need of executive clemency in order to "clean off" their criminal records. I sincerely appreciated the Dec. 28 editorial ["Decide quicker on clemency cases"] about the importance of Gov. Quinn's continued focus on clearing the backlog of clemency petitions from his desk, many of which were left by his predecessor.

New petitions are being submitted in record numbers, thus increasing the number of undecided petitions drastically. I definitely appreciate that Gov. Quinn, since taking office, has been pushing through the backlog of these petitions in a reasonably efficient manner.

However, the fact remains that the individuals seeking relief through executive clemency are, in many cases, unable to work, secure housing, loans, etc., without this type of relief.

Essentially, their lives are at a standstill and they are completely at Gov. Quinn's mercy. Many of the individuals whom I come to represent in their search for executive clemency are still being penalized, essentially, for transgressions that occurred decades ago. They've paid their debts to society and simply want to become productive members of society.

I'd like to applaud Gov. Quinn for his efforts with regard to deciding nearly 900 executive clemency petitions since taking office in 2009, but also like to take the opportunity to reaffirm the sentiment in the editorial: Gov. Quinn needs to redouble his efforts on deciding the approximately 2,800 remaining petitions just as quickly as possible.

The lives of my clients, in so many cases, depend upon his expedient actions.

Jorie K. Johnson,

Aurora[, IL]"

Full text of my letter to the editor can be found at http://www.suntimes.com/opinions/letters/3053350-474/clemency-petitions-gov-quinn-executive.html

Many of my clients are finding themselves in the position of needing to petition for executive clemency in order to clear even one felony theft charge from their criminal record. As I've previously mentioned, someone with even one conviction in his/her past is not eligible for relief through the expungement process. Moreover, when the charge has risen to the level of felony, chances are even the arrest is not sealable. What this means is that even if a person was charged, and latter acquitted, or alternatively, the charges were dismissed, that original felony arrest will remain a permanent part of the person's criminal background. (The four exceptions to this general rule are discussed here.) This leaves a person with even one arrest for felony theft with no option but to seek clemency from the Illinois governor.

Under Illinois law, a person has committed "theft" when he/she "obtains" property from its rightful owner either through "unauthorized control", deception or threat and moreover, has intended to permanently keep the property at issue away from its rightful owner. 720 ILCS 5/16-1 et seq. Depending upon the value of the property as issue and where (or who) it was taken from will determine if the crime is to be considered a misdemeanor or a felony. There is only one possibility where theft in Illinois will be considered a misdemeanor (Class A), and that is where the property has not been taken from another person, the property's value is less than $300.00, the property was not removed from a school, church or governmental property, and the person taking the property has not previously been convicted of theft or any related offense. (See 720 ILCS 5/16-1(b) et seq.)

The likelihood of all of the criteria set forth above being met, thus allowing a theft charge to be classified as a misdemeanor is relatively small. Even a theft of $300.01 will be considered a felony. For purposes of clearing a person's criminal record, the distinction between misdemeanor and felony convictions is extremely important, as again, the general rule of thumb is that the latter are neither expungeable nor sealable.

For determining eligibility for expungement or sealing, it does not matter if the felony theft conviction was from 30 years ago, nor does it matter if the individual was convicted of a Class 4 felony (least serious) instead of a Class X felony (most serious). Of course, all of these factors would be considered by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board in deciding whether to recommend a petitioner's request for clemency - and ultimately by Governor Quinn himself. Obviously, the longer the period of time that has passed since a person's conviction(s) and the lesser the degree of seriousness will all be regarded positively when a clemency petition is analyzed. Ultimately, however, the point to be made is that clemency is the only form of relief potentially available to a person with a felony theft conviction on his or her criminal record. Though I am not advocating theft, to my way of thinking, this is a very harsh result for comparatively minor conviction in many cases.

My clients can be very dismayed when they first learn that their criminal records are not eligible for either expungement or sealing under Illinois law (see 20 ILCS 2630/5 et seq.) However, all is not lost at this point; a petition for executive clemency may be a feasible solution for some of these clients.

Currently, expungement in Illinois is only available to a person who has never been convicted of any misdemeanor, felony or municipal ordinance violation. Sealing is only available to someone with minor, non-violent, non-sexual misdemeanor convictions, and four Class 4 felony convictions (i.e., prostitution, possession of cannabis, possession of controlled substance, and carry/possession of a firearm between the years 1995 and 1999 (see People v. Araceli Cervantes, 189 Ill.2d 80 (1999); 723 N.E.2d 265 (Ill. 1999).)

This does not mean, however, that because a person is not eligible for relief under Illinois expungement and sealing laws that he or she is left without a potential remedy - gubernatorial clemency is always an option. Pursuant to the Illinois Constitution, Article V, Section 12, "[t]he Governor may grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses on such terms as he thinks proper. The manner of applying therefore may be regulated by law." The term "clemency" is basically an umbrella term that encompasses the various mechanisms through which the Governor can remit (essentially, "forgive") the consequences of a crime. For my clients who are looking to ultimnately clean off their criminal records through executive clemency, he or she will want to file a petition for "pardon with full expungement" as this will allow him/her to achieve that purpose.

Although the Illinois Constitution gives our Governor broad discretion and ultimate power in deciding who he will or will not grant clemency to, there are certain statutory procedures set forth under the Illinois law (see e.g., 730 ILCS 5/3 et seq.) Moreover, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board creates its own set of requirements, including deadlines for filing a clemency petition, setting forth what information must be contained within the petition, etc. (see the Illinois Prisoner Review Board's website). Furthermore, at least one Illinois appellate court opinion has determined that there is no due process right to a ruling on one's clemency petition within a certain amount of time. (See Bowers v. Quinn, No. 08-4153, Decided April 2, 2009).

Practically speaking, whether or not an individual's petition for clemency will be granted, or even considered, becomes a function of the political importance a particular governor places on the process. Former Illinois Governor Blagojevich, for example, did not seemingly place much importance on his clemency power; he did not regularly review clemency petitions, and when he left office, there was a backlog of over 2,600 petitions for clemency sitting on his figurative desk. On the other hand, current Illinois Governor Quinn has made it a priority to review these, as well as newly filed petitions for clemency, in a reasonably timely fashion. As of a press release dated April 2, 2010, Governor Quinn has acted upon a total of 769 clemency petitions, and has granted 321 pardons, authorized 8 individuals who had previously received pardons to file expungement petitions in the appropriate circuit court, and completely denied relief on 440 petitions. Ultimately, it is worth remembering that even if you are not statutorily entitled to the remedies of expunging or sealing your criminal record, it may be worth hiring an experienced attorney to help you submit a petition for executive clemency to the Governor. Although clemency is not a quick solution, it remains an invaluable tool for those looking to purge their criminal records and start afresh in society.