The Tennessee Expungement statute allows people with criminal records to file a petition to expunge all dismissed charges for free after the charge is dismissed and court costs are paid, and to file a motion to expunge up to two eligible low-level convictions after a five-year waiting period. But reading a criminal record and determining if charges and convictions are eligible is not easy.
Since Fall 2015, Joy Radice has directed our one-credit Expungement Clinic, which offered to enable more students to experience live-client opportunities in advance of being eligible to appear in court. What began with a hotline, a few enthusiastic 1Ls from Professor Radice’s criminal law class, and a commitment to representing individuals with important legal needs quickly grew into a full-fledged clinic in which students, in collaboration with the prosecutor’s office, assist dozens of individuals each week in securing expungements from their criminal history. Professor Radice’s experience with the expungement project, her committee work with stakeholders redrafting juvenile expungement legislation, and her role as Co-Chair of the Expungement Subcommittee of the Knoxville Bar Association Access to Justice Committee have inspired her scholarship and her vision of a truly Reintegrative State.
If you think that you might be eligible for this free legal assistance, call the UT Clinic hotline at 865-974-6775. Click here to learn more about expungement and expungement clinic.
