ILLINOIS – On Friday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a law that automatically starts the expungement timeline for juvenile offenders as soon as they’re released from detention. It’s a move aimed at helping young people who’ve served their time in juvenile detention centers clear their records.
Local youth advocates are applauding the move, saying it could help young people in the Metro East.
Senate Bill 3463 amends the Juvenile Court Act. It requires state courts to clear the records of all young people who were charged as juveniles two years after their time served. With the bill, the state will also automatically schedule expungement hearings upon their release, thereby speeding up the process.
Pritzker says the ideas is to make it easier for young people to move on with their lives without having to jump through legal hurdles.
Larita Rice-Barnes founded the Metro East Organizing Coalition (MEOC), a faith-based organization working to end the cycle of gun violence in the Metro East. She applauded the new law.
“When you’re a youth, you may make mistakes. it doesn’t mean that’s who you are,” Rice-Barnes said.
She’s seen cases where young people have faced barriers to getting a job or a home due to something on their record from when they were teenagers, leaving a difficult impact as adults.
“There were times where the judge said, ‘OK, this is going to be expunged; we’ll put it in the record,’ but it’s not followed,” she said. “Sometimes those things come up, so having it expunged from the records will (prevent them) losing their job, losing their home and other things.”
Pritzker said he’s proud to sign the law, releasing this statement:
“It is no secret that the procedures of our court system can be difficult to navigate. People deserve to know what resources and rights are available to them,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “By cutting red tape and creating a process where expungement is more accessible, we can create more opportunities for more people who perhaps made a mistake when they were young, as we all have. This is a step in the right direction and I am proud to sign this legislation.”
Illinois is the 23rd state to pass such a law. It goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
