Lilly Passes Measure that Automatically Seals Records for Certain Prior Offenses

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – This week, state Rep. Camille Y. Lilly, D-Chicago, helped lead the effort to pass the “Clean Slate Act,” an automatic record sealing approach for certain, previously incarcerated individuals. 

“Too many times, formerly incarcerated individuals still pay tremendous amounts of suffering for mistakes they made in the past through barriers to employment, housing and other important opportunities,” Lilly said. “We want them to move on to the next stage in their lives, and this measure puts them in a better position to do so by making it easier for their records to be sealed so employers, landlords and other institutions don’t dismiss them before even giving them a chance.”

The Lilly-backed Senate Bill 1784 transitions the sealing process for certain criminal and petty offense records from a petition-based process to an automatic one. It does not fully guarantee that a record will be sealed, but it starts the process for qualified cases. Specific cases, such as, but not limited to, bodily harm and murder, sex offenses, no contact orders, robbery and class x felonies are unqualified for sealing. 

Senate Bill 1784 specifically deals with sealing records, not expunging them. Law enforcement and prosecutors will still be able to access records, if necessary, in the future. 

This new measure was built on previous smart legislation passed in the 100th General Assembly by Lilly, which reformed the criminal justice system – pioneered second chance opportunities for the re-entry population in Illinois.

The Lilly-backed measure and her prior efforts received bipartisan support.