Missouri circuit clerks like Sammye White of Iron County are working long hours to make sure their work is completed. In addition to the normal duties of a circuit clerk, like issuing marriage licenses and auditing child support payments, another job was added in November of 2022 with the passage of Amendment 3.
White's team faces a monumental challenge: reviewing every marijuana-related case in the county's history, dating back to the 1970s, for potential expungement under new state cannabis legislation.
The enormity of the task was daunting, exacerbated by the imminent retirement of her only two clerks. "How in the world are we going to accomplish this?" White pondered anxiously.
Fortunately, Denise Anderson, one of the clerks, graciously agreed to stay on part-time to assist with the exhaustive review process. Over the span of a year, Anderson meticulously combed through approximately 500 cases, resulting in around 100 expungements.
White's predicament mirrored that of circuit clerks statewide, each grappling with a similar deluge of paperwork and deadlines. Despite the initial guidance provided by the Office of State Administrator and Highway Patrol, the real labor lay in sifting through the piles of paper records, a task devoid of shortcuts or automated searches.
Iron County Court House
In Iron County alone, the journey through archives stretched back to 1993, with no end in sight. As courts scrambled to meet constitutional deadlines, the systematic tracking of their progress often fell by the wayside, leaving the true extent of reviewed cases shrouded in uncertainty.
While digital expungement orders offered some semblance of clarity, the process of scouring paper records remained a Herculean feat. Amidst the chaos, clerks like Elaine Wilson of Nodaway County relied on the dedication of individuals like Melissa Kohlleppel, who volunteered to navigate the bureaucratic maze single-handedly.
For Kohlleppel, the endeavor proved arduous, underscoring the unforeseen complexities of the task at hand. Despite the best intentions behind the constitutional amendment, the tight deadlines left many grappling with the sheer magnitude of the workload.
Across the state, the narrative echoed a similar refrain of determination tinged with frustration. While official figures touted expungement success rates, the reality on the ground often diverged, with clerks contending with technicalities and oversights in the implementation process.
Under the 2022 constitution amendment that legalized marijuana, courts were required to complete misdemeanors by last June and felonies by last December. Those deadlines came and went, and many counties are still months or more away from completing the task.
For more information, check out this story by the Missouri Independent.