Prosecutor Moves To Help Thousands Clear Criminal Records
Sep 24, 2019, 1:41 PM | Updated: Jun 8, 2022, 5:01 pm
Tony Padjen, who will be getting his convictions reduced and is now eligible for expungement, hugs Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill during a press conference at the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. Padjen is in recovery after being addicted to opioids. More than 12,300 people like Padjen, who have criminal convictions in nearly 14,000 cases in Utah, will be getting their convictions reduced. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
(Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Thousands of people in Utah will be able to clear their old criminal records after a mass reduction of criminal charges by the top prosecutor in its largest county, a step that’s among the first of its kind in the country.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Tuesday he’s filing to reduce drug-related charges for more than 12,000 people. Gill says the move makes most of them eligible to expunge their records, which otherwise make it harder to get jobs, housing and education.
It comes amid a wave of criminal-justice reform in the U.S. Miriam Krinsky with the group Fair and Just Prosecution says Salt Lake County’s effort goes further than many others by taking on a wide range of drug-related convictions, some dating back two decades.
