The Clean Slate law allows the automatic sealing of criminal records of low-level criminal offenders. It does not allow the sealing of criminal records involving serious crimes including firearms charges, murder, kidnapping, sexual offenses, and others.
Under the law, a person can petition the courts to seal his/her criminal records. The petitioner must be free from conviction for 10 years for an offense that resulted to a year or more in prison and paid all court-ordered financial debts.
According to Wolf, “Clean Slate will help those who have committed low-level offenses and have paid their penalty get back on the path to a blemish-free record, removing potential roadblocks…”
He stressed that the law will make Pennsylvania and the society safer by helping those who committed minor offenses put their lives back together.
Furthermore, Wolf emphasized that Clean Slate just like any new law, its “implementation can be complicated and difficult to understand.”
“So, for those looking to avail themselves of Clean Slate, who wish to wipe clean the slate of their past, there is help navigating the process,” said the governor.
