Short answer: Michigan’s expungement statute excludes most serious sexual offenses. Criminal sexual conduct convictions generally cannot be set aside, and assaultive offenses face tighter limits than other felonies. Some lesser sex-related offenses may qualify, and separate routes exist for registry relief.
What Clean Slate Did and Did Not Change
Michigan’s Clean Slate legislation dramatically widened expungement: automatic set-aside for eligible misdemeanors after 7 years and eligible felonies after 10, up to three felonies by petition, unlimited misdemeanors in many circumstances, and first-offense OWI expungement since 2021.
It did not open the door for serious sexual offences. Criminal sexual conduct convictions are generally excluded from set-aside, and the assaultive-crime limits restrict what else can be cleared alongside them.
What May Still Qualify
Not every charge in this area is a CSC conviction. Depending on the specific offence and your record, lesser or non-sexual resolutions can be eligible — which is one more reason the charge you resolve to matters enormously at the time of the plea, not years later.
This is also why negotiating a CSC 4th down to a non-sexual offence such as assault and battery is so valuable: it changes both the registry consequence and what can eventually be cleared.
Registry Relief Is a Different Question
Being unable to expunge a conviction does not automatically mean you are stuck on the registry forever. There are petition routes for certain Tier I registrants and limited relief for some young offenders in consensual close-in-age cases. See registry removal and how the tiers work.
What the Expungement Statute Actually Allows
Michigan’s set-aside framework now has two routes. Automatic expungement clears eligible misdemeanors after 7 years and eligible felonies after 10, provided there are no new convictions in that period. Petition-based expungement allows up to three felonies and, in many circumstances, an unlimited number of misdemeanors, with waiting periods generally running 3 years for misdemeanors and 5 for felonies from completion of the sentence.
Assaultive offences face tighter limits than others, and certain offences are excluded outright. Criminal sexual conduct convictions fall on the wrong side of those lines.
Why the Plea Decides This, Years in Advance
This is the practical point clients most often hear too late. Whether a record can ever be cleared is largely determined at the moment of the plea, not at the moment of the petition.
A CSC 4th resolved instead as assault and battery changes three things at once: it removes the sexual designation, it removes the registration obligation, and it produces a conviction that may eventually be eligible for set-aside. That is why fighting for the charge — rather than only for the sentence — is where the real value sits.
If You Cannot Expunge, What Is Left
Two things are still worth pursuing. Registry relief runs on a separate track from expungement, so being ineligible for a set-aside does not automatically mean permanent registration.
And where a conviction resulted from conduct connected to being trafficked, Michigan provides avenues to challenge it that do not depend on the ordinary expungement rules. If that applies to you, say so to your lawyer immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a CSC conviction be expunged in Michigan?
Generally no. Criminal sexual conduct convictions are excluded from set-aside under Michigan’s expungement statute.
What about a charge that was dismissed?
A dismissal is not a conviction, and non-conviction records are treated differently. Arrest records can still surface in background checks, so it is worth confirming what is actually on your record.
Does expungement remove me from the sex offender registry?
Not automatically. Registry relief is a separate process with its own criteria, which is why the two questions have to be handled independently.
How long does a Michigan expungement take?
A petition typically takes several months from filing to hearing, depending on the court. Automatic expungement happens without a filing once the qualifying period passes.
Is a juvenile adjudication treated the same way?
No. Juvenile records follow different rules and are often easier to address, which is one more reason to keep a young person’s case in the family division where possible.
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