Campaign & tech tool for arrest expunctions in Texas

[fileunderjeff]

In Texas, many police officers use previous arrest records -- not convictions -- as a way of exercising their discretion over whether someone should be arrested. An arrest stays on your record, even if the charges are dropped or if you are found not guilty. The Texas Criminal Code contains a Right to Expunction.

I'd be interested in working with a team to:

• Determine the need and verify the facts
• Create a technology tool (inspiration: expunge.io)
• Build a marketing strategy and campaign for getting this in the hands of social workers and other people working with at-risk communities

[christyleos]

Hey @fileunderjeff I've had a few people show interest in the project, I think they may be waiting for the hackathon to officially start before jumping in.

I also had an anonymous contributor and lawyer (who can't attend unfortunately) write a short guide/overview on expungement for convictions (not arrests). Expungement.docx

[sdossettswift]

@fileunderjeff and @christyleos - @cflatts and I want to hack on this issue.

[cclifto]

I've been drafted by @cflatts and @sdossettswift, glad to be on board

[JeffarestyIBO]

https://www.arlegalservices.org/expungementpacket is an example of what Ark legal aid did in this area

[christyleos]

Where to find this project

https://github.com/recordbleach/tx-recordbleach-api

[MatthewExpungement]

I like this project idea. I created MDExpungement.com in Maryland. Would it be possible to build a similar project to scrape the texas state criminal webpage and use that information to determine expungeability (or expunctionabilty)?

[sdossettswift]

Hey @MatthewExpungement -- thanks! MDExpungement is awesome -- I will take a closer look at the records that are available for search. Based on past experience, my understanding is that Texas criminal records are not searchable without paying a fee. (I want to say it is $3 per search).