Washington Lawyer May/June 2026
By Jeremy Conrad
It took three attempts for D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to convince the Council of the District of Columbia to pass the Second Chance Amendment Act, underscoring the value of a "clean slate" for thousands of D.C. residents with criminal records ranging from arrests to convictions.
The ability to seal or expunge a criminal record has the potential to impact the lives of a significant number of D.C. residents. Each year the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, which handles the vast majority of adult criminal cases in the District, reviews 15,000 to 17,000 cases. Although only half of them are prosecuted, the criminal records — and the collateral consequences of those arrests — could persist for many years.
Record relief for a criminal past removes barriers for residents to "access jobs, housing, and education that will help them thrive and, in turn, make communities safer," Bowser said in 2021.
Expanding Access to Record Relief
The Second Chance Amendment Act finally passed in 2022, though it was neither funded nor implemented for several years following its enactment. Significant provisions took effect in March 2025, allowing people convicted of most misdemeanors and some felonies an opportunity to petition the courts to have their criminal records sealed and expunged after a designated waiting period. By October 2027, certain types of cases, such as those involving decriminalized offenses, will be automatically expunged.
While the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center does not assist with criminal law matters, it took an important step in February 2026 by offering walk-in consultations for the first time on criminal record sealing and expungement.
"We listen to what our neighbors have to say, and we certainly want to be as responsive as we can with regard to the services we provide," says Anitra Ash-Shakoor Hill, managing attorney for consumer and bankruptcy law at the Pro Bono Center.
Through its Advice & Referral Clinic, the Pro Bono Center collaborated with two legal services organizations that handle criminal record sealing and expungement matters — the Neighborhood Legal Services Program (NLSP) and the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Ash-Shakoor Hill manages the clinic, where individuals can get answers to legal questions and may be referred to or matched with partnering organizations that can take on representation.
"The public has come to know of the clinic as a place that they can [go to] for assistance with civil legal issues relating to housing, family, consumer, personal injury, and other areas of the law," Ash-Shakoor Hill says. "We want to get the word out that in addition to all of these services, residents can also come in and speak to an attorney about sealing or expunging a criminal record."
Marka Belinfanti, director of private attorney involvement for NLSP, was among those who participated in the February consultations, meeting with four individuals in search of advice relating to their criminal records. "I was able to give them limited-scope advice at the event, but then we were also able to refer them to our intake line and potentially get them in front of an attorney here at NLSP who can actually help with drafting and filing the record sealing motion," she says.
"Clients come to us and they may have an extensive criminal record, or just one minor charge, arrest, or conviction that happened when they were young," Belinfanti says. "That charge or conviction can follow them throughout their life, causing barriers to securing housing and employment. So, at NLSP, we really see doing this work as improving access to justice."
The Pro Bono Center's partnership with NLSP is particularly meaningful, since relatively few organizations in the District offer record sealing advice and services. "Record sealing is an area that is underserved," Belinfanti notes. "There is a tremendous demand for these services, it is relatively straightforward to learn the statutes and draft the motions, and the result, if a motion is granted, can have a tremendous impact on a client's life."
"I have personally seen clients come through our doors whose whole professional trajectory is thwarted because they have a record," she adds. "Once a record is sealed or expunged, it is a huge step forward for many of our clients, putting them in a better position to secure employment and housing."
Fresh Starts, Long-Term Impacts
An estimated 10,000 people seek the assistance of nonprofit organizations to help seal or expunge records every year. Record sealing prevents a third party from obtaining a person's criminal records when conducting a background check, although law enforcement, the judicial system, and special employers (those who work with children, the elderly, or another special needs population) continue to have access to them.
Expungement, on the other hand, eliminates a record and restores a person in the eyes of the law to the status they occupied before the arrest, charge, or conviction.
The Second Chance Amendment Act created four categories of record relief. Those convicted of decriminalized offenses such as simple possession of marijuana are entitled to the automatic expungement of their record. Expungement by motion is available to those who can show that they were actually innocent of the crime for which they were arrested or prosecuted but not convicted. Nonconvictions and convictions for misdemeanors such as public intoxication, disorderly conduct, and simple assault are automatically sealed 10 years after the completion of the person's sentence. Finally, those convicted of a crime may be eligible to file a motion to seal their record. Misdemeanor convictions can be sealed five years after a sentence is completed, and felony convictions can be sealed after eight years — though not all felonies are eligible under the act.
Paul Di Blasi, managing attorney for housing at the Pro Bono Center, says the existence of a criminal record can be an obstacle to securing appropriate housing in the District where there is already an acute shortage of affordable housing. "Any kind of impediment on top of that can prevent an individual from being able to secure stable housing, which can ultimately impact an individual's access to employment, child care, and other services," says Di Blasi, who represents tenants in eviction proceedings and other matters.
Di Blasi runs the Landlord and Tenant Resource Center, where pro bono volunteers provide brief services to tenants and small landlords. He also manages the intake and routing of inquiries through the Landlord Tenant Legal Assistance Network, a hotline that connects District residents with housing issues to legal services partners that can provide assistance and representation.
"Having access to safe and adequate housing is really important for people and their families to flourish," Di Blasi says. "Housing impacts a person's ability to be a part of a community; it impacts their employment opportunities and their children's access to education. Sealing or expunging a criminal record can help people secure the housing they need to be happy, healthy, contributing members of the community."
Jenadee Nanini, managing attorney for family law matters at the Pro Bono Center, has seen firsthand how a criminal record can create unnecessary obstacles for parents. "A criminal record may affect a person's ability to maintain a meaningful relationship with their child due to a range of barriers at every stage and often can influence how players in the family law system see them — from providers to support programs to judges," she says. "The ongoing stigma can alter the ultimate outcome for parents. It can function as an ongoing civil legal penalty, destabilizing a person and preventing them from being fully present for their child or able to provide for them. The resulting collateral consequences are significant, both inside and outside the courtroom."
"The existence of a criminal record can impact a person's ability to secure housing or work, for example, which may prevent a parent from providing a stable home, from complying with orders, or from paying child support orders," Nanini continues. "Keeping families together strengthens child development and improves their long-term emotional, educational, and economic outcomes."
D.C. Bar staff writer Jeremy Conrad is an attorney who has spent much of the past decade writing about the legal profession. Previously he practiced in immigration law and criminal defense.
