Have a minor crime on your record? New WA website helps you figure out if it can be removed
A new online tool launched Wednesday where Washington residents can determine whether they are eligible to have some criminal convictions removed from their record.
The free Vacation Eligibility Calculator quickly helps users check the status of their eligibility through a series of questions, and the website then provides steps to vacating a conviction if the person is eligible.
The calculator is timely because the 2019 Washington Legislature unanimously passed The New Hope Act, which modified the vacation process for those with past convictions, making more Washingtonians eligible to remove convictions from their records.
Under the law, some misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors and felonies can be vacated.
For charges not involving certain domestic violence offenses, there is a three-year waiting period after completing all conditions of a sentence. Misdemeanors resulting from certain domestic violence offenses have a five-year waiting period, as long as orders were not violated in the wait period and those individuals are not currently the subject of an order.
The group behind the civic tech project, Clearviction, is composed of all volunteers. In a news release, the group said the mission of the project “is to benefit individuals with criminal convictions and decrease lifelong collateral consequences.” The news release said they created the online tool to support that mission by helping others navigate the process.
As Clearviction notes on their website, past criminal convictions can be a barrier to housing, employment and education.
This story was originally published May 12, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
