Virginia allows criminals to hide criminal records to help them get jobs, housing

Those in support of the law claimed that it will help accused and convicted criminals get access to housing and jobs. The law will also make it harder for Virginians to find out if prosecutors dropped cases that then allowed the alleged perps to walk free.

Virginia’s government site language says records that “felony non-convictions at case conclusion (upon verbal request by the defendant and concurrence of the Commonwealth’s Attorney) (acquittal and dismissal with prejudice)” can be sealed. This would apply to dropped charges, even if they are severe.

The law has been passed as there has been heavy scrutiny of Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano. He has come under pressure for making mistakes and dropping previous charges against Abdul Jalloh, an illegal immigrant who has been charged with the murder of Stephanie Minter, a single mother.

The new Clean Slate law allows for lenient plea deals and dropped charges to be sealed from public view, relieving attorneys like Descano from heavier scrutiny for his decisions.

President of Virginians for Safe Communities told Nick Minock at WJLA that the law does not allow for a judge's review. “If the prosecutor petitions for this and agrees to a sealing, the judge must. It is a shall, not a may. The prosecutor can either object or the prosecutor can agree. And if they consent to it, it goes away. The judge has no ability to say no.”

“This is a recipe for disaster,” Kennedy added. “It allows people to cover up their own incompetence. And that's exactly what's happening right here in this courthouse. The current prosecutor gets to cover up when he screws up. This is not about giving redemption to people who are wrongfully accused or were adjudicated and cleared. This is about when they screw up and somebody's guilty as sin and they get off. All of that gets hidden from the public. This isn't about redemption. This is about transparency. And there's none of it under this law.”

The law was passed in 2021, but is now being fully implemented, which includes the automatic sealing of marijuana possession and/or intent to distribute, disorderly conduct, shoplifting, and trespassing if the convict has gone seven years without another conviction.

Although it requires a judge's approval for higher-level convictions to be sealed, dropped charges may be sealed completely. If prosecutors fail to act when a crime is committed and the suspect is charged, that charge may not be seen by the public even if they are serious crimes.

WJLA reported that when Minock went to access records of a sexual assault arrest from 2024, but could not do so online or at the courthouse. The court clerk’s office said that the case had been dropped and the suspect requested the records to be sealed.

Democratic Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell was asked about the law as well, and he said, "that's actually something that we're thinking about addressing. Because the intent of the law was not for the public not to be able to see why a case was dismissed, especially if it was for prosecutorial misconduct or police misconduct or somebody makes a mistake in trial. The intent was to try to save people the effort of having to go through the process and paying a lawyer and getting an expungement when they're not guilty.”