July 28, 2023

New billboards going up in Mass. to spread word about how to seal criminal records

BY Dave ThompsonMassLive

A legal aid group is using billboards to inform people who have been convicted of crimes of the steps they can take to have their records sealed or expunged.

Northampton-based Community Legal Aid announced Thursday that it has used grant money to fund an ad campaign informing Western and Central Massachusetts residents about the group’s reentry services.

“Persons recently released from incarceration, and those with criminal records, can face many challenges, including barriers to housing and employment opportunities,” the group said in a news release.

People can petition to have some felony convictions over seven years old and misdemeanors over three years old, while expungement requires much more stringent criteria to be met. While police and courts can still access a sealed criminal record, it may not be available to employers or landlords.

The group said the ads will run on public transportation in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester counties, with billboards on display in Worcester and Springfield.

Alyssa Golden, Community Legal Aid’s senior supervising attorney, said in a statement that, while the group’s re-entry unit helped 200 people last year with sealing and expunging their records, many others may not know their records are eligible.

The group said they are funding the campaign with money from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Grant Program.