More than 150,000 marijuana-related cases have now been expunged by Missouri Courts pursuant to Article XIV, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution, passed by Missouri voters in November of 2022. Contrary to earlier published reports, there are many more cases awaiting expungement.
The expungement of marijuana criminal cases is one of the most important aspects of Article XIV", said Dan Viets, J.D. Missouri NORML Coordinator and Chair of the Advisory Board of the 2022 campaign.
Viets and Missouri NORML have worked for legalization and on behalf of the interests of cannabis consumers in Missouri and across the nation for more than 50 years. The passage of Article XIV, Section 2 by Missouri voters was the culmination of decades of work by activists across the state of Missouri.
Contrary to earlier published reports, it is likely that there are still hundreds of thousands of cases awaiting expungement. The Courts have begun with the easier cases, the more recent ones, the cases which are in electronic records.
The greater challenge will be to expunge the cases which are on paper records and which are largely in physical files which are stored in courthouses and other locations across the state.
"It is perplexing that prosecutors and Courts have no problem finding prior marijuana-related convictions when they wish to enhance new charges against a Defendant, yet it seems to be a major undertaking for the Courts to locate those same cases when it comes to expungement", said Viets, an attorney with nearly 40 years of experience handling such cases throughout the state of Missouri.
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