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Many More Marijuana Expungements Are Likely
There are many tens of thousands of municipal marijuana cases which have yet to be expunged .
by Dan Viets , J . D ., contributing writer
Contrary to information from the Missouri Office of State Courts Administrator ( OSCA ), as recently reported by The Missouri Independent , it is likely there will be many more marijuana cases required to be expunged pursuant to Article XIV , Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution as passed by voters in November of 2022 .
According to statistics from the FBI , there were more than 16,600 marijuana arrests in 2018 . In fact , the number of arrests is almost certainly far higher because only 56 % of Missouri law enforcement agencies reported these numbers to the FBI .
A conservative estimate of 20,000 marijuana arrests per year would mean that the 140,000 expungements so far represent only about seven years of such arrests .
Not only have there been far more marijuana arrests than the expungements accomplished so far , but as reported by the Missouri Independent , OSCA believes that “… the first marijuanarelated drug statutes are from 1971 …”. This is absolutely false . Marijuana has been prohibited under Missouri law for about a century , approximately twice as long as OSCA seems to think .
As noted by the Missouri Independent , the Missouri Supreme Court statistics regarding expungement do “ not include the paper records .” 1 There were almost no electronic court records until the beginning of the 21st century . Many counties continued to use paper records until approximately 2014 .
The fact that the records are on paper and therefore require more work to expunge , in no way exempts them from the Constitutional mandate to expunge almost all marijuana cases . If necessary , Missouri NORML is prepared to litigate this issue until all required expungements have been completed .
As the Missouri Independent noted , “… there ’ s no set date for how far back the county courts have to go .” 1 Article XIV provided virtually unlimited funding to pay for expungements . In fact , the revenue from the 6 % statewide sales tax on more than $ 1 billion in marijuana sales provides ample funding for the expungement process . But many Circuit Clerks have been reluctant to hire staff to make this happen .
18 March 2025
In addition , there are many tens of thousands of municipal marijuana cases which have yet to be expunged . Missouri municipal courts have taken the position that they are exempt from the expungement mandate , but they are not . Article XIV clearly requires Missouri circuit courts to expunge almost all marijuana cases . Municipal courts are subdivisions of the Circuit Courts . Some argue that city ordinance violations are exempt because they are not misdemeanors . In fact , the charters of many cities across the state explicitly refer to such violations as misdemeanors .
A case is currently pending in the Missouri Court of Appeals which will very likely clarify the fact that municipal courts are required to expunge marijuana-related cases . Finding otherwise would produce the absurd result of almost all felony marijuana offenses being expunged , but not city ordinance violations .
The Missouri Independent published statistics from several Missouri counties , but preceded those statistics with the statement that , “ Under the 2022 constitution ( sic ) amendment that legalized marijuana , courts were required to expunge all nonviolent offenses for possessing or selling three pounds or less of marijuana …” 1 This is a mistaken interpretation of the law .
The three-pound limit relates only to obtaining early release from prison . Article XIV , Section 2 , 10 . ( 8 ) states “ for all class A , class B , and class C or successor designation , felony marijuana offenses , and for all class D , or successor designation , felony marijuana offenses for possession of more than three pounds of marijuana , the courts of this state shall order expungement of criminal history records .…”
1 . https :// missouriindependent . com / 2025 / 01 / 31 / missouri-courts-near-theend-of-marijuana-expungement-review /
Dan Viets , J . D ., is Chair of the National Board of Directors of NORML ( National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws ) and the Missouri State Coordinator for NORML . He chaired the Boards of Directors of both the 2018 and 2022 Article XIV campaigns . He has practiced law in almost every circuit court in Missouri during the past 38 years .