Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Under current Michigan law (MCL 780.621), if you have more than one criminal conviction (misdemeanor and / or felony), you cannot set aside (expunge) any of them. The current expunction statute says that only a person with "not more than one" conviction can petition to set that one conviction aside ... assuming that it's been at least 5 years since the sentencing date, and it's not a motor vehicle code or major controlled substance or Life felony.

That's the bad news. The good news is that for the past two legislative sessions, the folks in Lansing have been considering bills that would loosen this process up and allow more people who are currently barred due to multiple convictions to petition to set them aside. No bill has been passed, nothing has been given to the governor to sign, etc. But the legislature's rationale is in line with what you're talking about: it's harder to get a job with a criminal record.

So, contact your state Rep and state Senator in Lansing and voice your opinion on bills like this, including 2009 HB 4405 or others like it. Depending on the language in any modification to MCL 780.621, you may become eligible to petition to set aside one or both of your misdemeanor convictions. If that does become possible, you may want to hire an attorney to help with the process to make sure that all procedural hurdles are crossed and that the best documentation and argument are presented to the judge on your behalf.

Best of luck.