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Missouri cannabis expungements likely to miss constitutional deadlines
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Missouri legalized recreational marijuana, it also promised to automatically expunge marijuana-related misdemeanors and felonies for charges related to less than three pounds of marijuana.
It’s a step only a few other states have taken, but one that would help people with a wide range of convictions get jobs and benefits by making it as if the offenses had never happened.
The deadline for misdemeanors to be expunged is June 8 and felonies are required to be wiped clean by December 8. The responsibility to do the expungements falls to Circuit Clerks in each county across the state.
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“We cannot meet that deadline, will not meet that deadline, it is not physically possible to meet that deadline,” said Greene County Circuit Clerk Bryan Feemster. “We wish that we could.”
Feemster says it’s largely because county employees have to go through every case file to see if there are charges to expunge.
Once they find charges that qualify, Feemster says they have to make sure they remove every trace of the charge. After streamlining the process, Feemster says it takes about two hours to process just one case.
More recent cases could be searched with computers because they are digitized but older cases exist only on paper, requiring even more time to go through.
“There is, at this point, not an end in sight but we’re going to keep working at it,” Feemster said.
Data from the state shows that more than 31,000 charges have been expunged as of early May. In many instances, one person has more than one charge. Feemster says his office has looked through about 43,000 cases just to expunge charges in less than two percent of them.
Attorney Justin Ortiz the county workers he’s spoken with handling cases for his clients, have been doing the best with what they have.
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“I think the reality of it is there are probably some [cases] that get missed or don’t hit that deadline just because of how many there have been in the entire history of Missouri,” Ortiz said.
The process has worked for people like Jeff Mizanskey, who spent more than 20 years in prison because of severe penalties for people caught with marijuana multiple times.
“I think [expungement is] one of the best things in the whole bill, personally, because it gives these guys and girls a life that’s worth living,” said Mizanskey.
He says expungement allows people to get the jobs and benefits they need to provide for their families. He’s had two convictions expunged automatically and still needs to file a petition to get a third, more serious conviction, wiped away.
Feemster says counties will have to work with cases that go all the way to the early 1970s before they are finished.
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – Two people are behind bars after a man reportedly attacked a Jefferson County deputy with a screwdriver during an attempted arrest over the weekend.
Prosecutors have charged Nicholas Davis, 47, and Amanda Davis, 45, of Dittmer, Missouri, with felonies in the investigation.
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The alleged attack followed a traffic stop of a driver in the 9500 block of Jones Creek Road on July 7, though the driver was not Nicholas or Amanda.
According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Nicholas reportedly came out of his nearby home, yelled at a deputy and started approaching him while holding a screwdriver. The deputy initially ordered Nicholas to back away, then used pepper spray.
Per court documents, the deputy attempted to arrest Nicholas, who then struck him in the chest with the screwdriver. Amanda reportedly approached the deputy and pulled him away from Nicholas before both ran inside their home.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the situation prompted an hours-long standoff involving negotiators, a SWAT team and a K-9 deputy. The situation led to Nicholas refusing warnings and being bitten by a K-9.
Nicholas and Amanda are both jailed in the Jefferson County Jail without bond. Nicholas is charged with first-degree assault on a special victim and armed criminal action. Amanda is charged with resisting/interfering with arrest.
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ST. LOUIS — The new St. Louis schools superintendent will be officially sworn into office today. Dr. Keisha Scarlett took over the job in July after the retirement of Dr. Kelvin Adams. She was assistant superintendent in the Seattle Public School District. The installation ceremony is at 6:15 p.m. before the regular school board meeting.
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ST. LOUIS — A gasoline tanker truck crashed into a Metro transit center near Riverview and Hall Streets early Tuesday morning and knocked over a power pole. The pole is leaning on other power lines. Police have the area blocked off here because there is a downed power line. Ameren and Metro crews are also on the scene.
The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. It’s still unclear exactly what caused the crash, but we do that there was a second vehicle somehow involved. The airbags on that second vehicle did deploy.
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Police at the scene have not been able to give us a lot of details. Metro officials tell FOX 2 that the transit center here is operating this morning for passengers and buses. Access to certain areas will be limited here as clean up unfolds.
A Metro spokesperson says half of the station isn’t being used right now because of safety issues. It isn’t impacting overall bus operations, everything is just happening on the other side of transit center.
The extent of the damage to the actual transit center is still unclear, but I’m told it does not appear to be extreme. A Metro spokesperson tells me there were no injuries to any metro workers or passengers. The tanker driver also was not injured.
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