Clean Slate Texas is a coalition of community and advocacy organizations, business and faith leaders, directly impacted people, and families dedicated to expanding access to record clearing so that people with previous involvement in the criminal legal system can get housing, employment, education, and more without facing a lifetime of discrimination.

 

Almost everyone sent to jail or prison will be freed and expected to rejoin society. However, these individuals will have to do so while facing discrimination in almost every avenue of life. Even for people who were convicted but sentenced to only probation or relatively little jail time, or who were charged but never convicted, the record of their arrest and system involvement can be used to deny them opportunities for a lifetime. Furthermore, for the limited number of people who are eligible for record sealing or expunction under current law, the process to obtain a court order to have their records sealed is nearly impossible to navigate without expensive legal help.

 

Clean Slate Texas believes that people shouldn’t be defined for a lifetime by their past mistakes. We believe that people deserve second chances, especially given the pervasive racial and economic disparities in the criminal legal system. Nor should people face discrimination for being wrongly arrested or charged with a crime but never convicted. Our communities cannot succeed while so many are held back. We believe that people deserve a Clean Slate.

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Clean Slate Texas is a state-based partnership with Clean Slate Initiative. To access the national site, click on the icon at the bottom of the page.