Even though marijuana is legal in Illinois, clearing old criminal
records still a challenge
[February 11, 2026]
By Kaitlin Bender-Thomas and Medill Illinois News Bureau
CHICAGO — For Illinoisan Roosevelt Myles, a marijuana conviction from
the 1980s became part of a criminal record that’s followed him for
decades.
Myles spent 28 years in prison for murder before a judge vacated his
conviction on appeal and granted him a certificate of innocence, finding
that no physical evidence linked him to the killing.
By the time Myles was released from prison in 2020, Illinois’ legal
landscape regarding marijuana had shifted dramatically. The state
legalized adult recreational use and possession of small amounts of
marijuana under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act and created pathways
for people to clear certain cannabis-related offenses from their
records.
Myles was among those who benefited from the state’s reforms, which were
designed, in part, to address the harm caused to some by the war on
drugs. Last fall, with the help of attorneys at New Leaf Illinois, an
online portal that helps people clear their marijuana records, he
successfully petitioned to have his marijuana record sealed and his
wrongful murder conviction expunged.
Months earlier, Myles had been denied a job working with children
because of his criminal record, making the court’s decision feel like a
turning point after what he described as hitting “rock bottom.”
“It was a great feeling,” Myles said of the expungement that took five
years to happen.
Statewide data, however, suggest that most people don’t follow through.
According to the Paper Prisons Initiative, a legal research group, an
estimated 2.2 million people in Illinois were eligible for expungement
or record sealing in 2021, but only about 10% had filed petitions.
Legal experts refer to this disparity as the “second chance gap,” and
they attribute it to a combination of factors, including a lack of
awareness, fear of the legal system, filing costs and long wait times.
However, they say this gap may narrow as Illinois prepares to implement
the Clean Slate Act, signed into law earlier this year, which will
automatically seal nonviolent criminal records for over 1.7 million
adults beginning in 2029.
Not all lawmakers supported the measure. Sen. Steve McClure,
R-Springfield, raised concerns that automatic sealing would limit access
to information for families and employers, particularly in cases
involving financial exploitation of the elderly.
“The family member who’s hiring to look after their loved one is
shielded from that information,” McClure said.
Barbara Bertini, director of pro bono and community partnerships at
Legal Aid Chicago, said under the current system, it can take up to a
year for a sealing or expungement petition to be granted once it is
filed.
But as Myles’ experience shows, the process doesn’t end once a judge
signs an order. Although his sealing was granted in October 2025, Myles
said recently he has yet to receive any documents from the Illinois
State Police confirming that his record has been updated.
According to Illinois Legal Aid, the State Police and other law
enforcement agencies have 60 days from the date they receive a court
order to comply. For many it can take much longer.
The State Police are responsible for updating the central criminal
history database and sending a confirmation letter once a record has
been expunged or sealed. Until that happens, the record may still appear
in background checks.
“The day you get convicted, it’s on your record. They got it in, they
put it in the database, and everything. So what’s so hard about them
taking it off?” Myles said. “It’s sad … you’re still fighting for
something, and you have no control over it.”
An emotional toll
Others navigating the expungement and sealing process report similar
delays. Vincent Bolton, who grew up on Chicago’s west side, said he has
spent years trying to move past a series of marijuana-related arrests
that began when he was around 18.
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Roosevelt Myles recently had his marijuana record expunged. (Photo
provided by Roosevelt Myles).
“I can’t even count how many times I’ve been arrested for weed,” Bolton
said.
A judge granted orders to expunge and seal Bolton’s cannabis cases early
last year. Nearly a year later, Bolton says his record remains in
“limbo” as he has yet to receive official confirmation that it has been
cleared. While he said he expected the process to take some time, he
didn’t anticipate a delay of this length.
This prolonged uncertainty, Bolton said, has taken an emotional toll.
“At the time of you doing the process, you feel like you accomplished
something,” Bolton said. “But when you don’t start hearing back, it kind
of just dims your light a little bit.”
Both Myles’ and Bolton’s experiences come as the federal government
moves to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug —
a shift that would expand research and formally acknowledge its accepted
medical use and lower risk of abuse.
However, legal experts say this change will not affect eligibility or
timelines for expungement or sealing processes in Illinois, as
record-clearing is governed entirely by state law. Bertini said
eligibility depends on what happened in the case, such as whether it
resulted in a conviction, not how marijuana is classified federally.
She also said she and her team have not experienced resistance from Cook
County judges when it comes to clearing cannabis cases. However, she has
heard from other practitioners that judges in more rural counties tend
to take a harsher stance.
“I think we’re quite fortunate in Cook County that the judges don’t see
an issue with it,” Bertini said.
Josh Niewoehner, supervising attorney for the New Leaf Cannabis
Expungement Project at CARPLS Legal Aid, says the federal
reclassification could be cited in contested cases, particularly in
those rural counties where the state objects more frequently.
He added that the move could build momentum for broader record-clearing
reforms nationwide.
“I think what it’s going to do is create more exposure,” Niewoehner
said. “It sounds like most of the country’s on board with it, and it’s
going to allow, hopefully, for other states to get on board like
Illinois has been on board, with allowing for people to expunge and seal
criminal records for something that is heading towards national
legalization.”
Capitol News Illinois reached out to the State Police to ask what may be
contributing to delays in processing expungement and record-sealing
orders. The agency did not immediately respond.
Legal experts are hopeful the recently enacted Clean Slate Act in
Illinois will help streamline the process and help mitigate the
record-clearing backlog.
Yet, despite recent legal developments at both the state and federal
levels, tangible relief remains elusive for people like Myles and
Bolton, who are still awaiting answers.
“Just as efficient and on time they are when taking you to court and
getting you locked up and taking you to the bullpen, it should be (that
way) on the other side, too,” Bolton said.
Kaitlin Bender-Thomas is a graduate student in
journalism with Northwestern University’s Medill School of
Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications, and is a
fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership
with Capitol News Illinois.
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state
government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is
funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R.
McCormick Foundation. |
