Does Michigan's Automatic Expungement Cover Domestic Violence?

No. Michigan's automatic set-aside, usually called Clean Slate, does not clear domestic violence convictions. The statute says the automatic process does not apply to a conviction for an assaultive crime or for a serious misdemeanor, and domestic assault falls in both categories.^[1][2] A person who wants a domestic assault conviction set aside has to file an application with the court.^[2]

This page explains how the automatic process works, why domestic assault is outside it, and how a domestic violence conviction can affect the automatic clearing of a person's other convictions. The application route is covered in Setting aside a domestic violence conviction.

What is automatic set-aside?

Michigan has two ways to set aside ("expunge") a conviction. One is an application decided by a judge. The other, added by 2020 PA 193, sets aside certain convictions "without the filing of an application" once enough time has passed.^[2][5] The amending act took effect on April 11, 2021, but the automatic process was written to begin 2 years later, on April 11, 2023, and is "subject to any necessary appropriation."^[5]

The statute, MCL 780.621g, sorts convictions into tiers:^[6][7][8]

Type of conviction	When it is set aside automatically	Do the exclusions for assaultive crimes and serious misdemeanors apply?
Misdemeanor punishable by not more than 92 days	7 years after the sentence was imposed[6]	Unclear from the text: this tier is written "subject to" the exclusion list, but the list itself names only the other two tiers[9]. Domestic assault under state law is punishable by up to 93 days, so it is not in this tier[10]
Misdemeanor punishable by 93 days or more	7 years after the sentence was imposed, if no charges are pending and there has been no new conviction[7]	Yes[1]
Eligible felony	10 years after the later of sentencing or completion of any prison term[8]	Yes[1]

There are numeric limits as well. Not more than 2 felony convictions and 4 misdemeanor convictions may be set aside automatically during a person's lifetime, and the misdemeanor limit does not count misdemeanors in the 92-day tier.^[11]

Why domestic assault is excluded

Subsection (10) of the statute lists convictions that the automatic process skips. The first two items are "(a) An assaultive crime" and "(b) A serious misdemeanor."^[1] The list also excludes crimes of dishonesty, any other offense punishable by 10 or more years, listed offenses whose elements involve a minor, a vulnerable adult, injury or serious impairment, or death, and any violation related to human trafficking.^[1]

Domestic assault meets both of the first two descriptions:

• Assaultive crime. The act's definition includes a violation of chapter XI of the Michigan Penal Code, MCL 750.81 to 750.90g.^[12] Domestic assault is charged under MCL 750.81 and aggravated domestic assault under MCL 750.81a.^[12]
• Serious misdemeanor. The act borrows the definition from the crime victim's rights act, whose list begins with a violation of MCL 750.81, "assault and battery, including domestic violence," and MCL 750.81a, "assault; infliction of serious injury, including aggravated domestic violence."^[13]

The 92-day tier does not help either. First-offense domestic assault is punishable by up to 93 days, so it falls in the 93-day-or-more tier, where the exclusions apply.^[10][2] For a conviction under a local ordinance with a maximum of 92 days or less, the statute is less clear: the subsection for 92-day misdemeanors recorded in the State Police database is written "subject to" the exclusion list, while the list says only that the felony and 93-day subsections "do not apply."^[9] No court decision resolving that wording was reviewed for this guide, so a person in that position should not assume the conviction has cleared without checking the record.

The exclusion is by offense, not by sentence. A person who received only a fine or a short probation for domestic assault is in the same position as one who served jail time: the conviction is not set aside automatically.^[2]

What about felony domestic violence convictions?

Felony domestic violence offenses are assaultive crimes too, so the same exclusion applies.^[1][12] A second barrier sits behind it. The statute's list of convictions that can never be set aside, which includes a felony conviction for domestic violence where the person has a previous misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence, also applies to the automatic process.^[14][15]

How a domestic violence conviction affects your other convictions

A domestic assault conviction can also get in the way of clearing unrelated convictions. The automatic set-aside of felonies and of misdemeanors punishable by 93 days or more does "not apply to an individual who has more than 1 conviction for an assaultive crime or an attempt to commit an assaultive crime" recorded in the State Police database.^[4]

In practice, two domestic assault convictions do more than stay on the record themselves. They also stop a person's other 93-day misdemeanors and felonies from clearing automatically.^[4] Those other convictions may still be eligible by application, where a different set of limits applies.^[16]

What about a case that was deferred and dismissed?

A domestic violence case that was deferred under MCL 769.4a and then dismissed did not end in a conviction, so there is no conviction for either process to set aside.^[17] The State Police keep a nonpublic record of a deferred case.^[18] That record is governed by the deferral statute, not by Clean Slate; see Does a deferral count as a conviction?

The route that is open: an application

For a misdemeanor domestic assault conviction, the route is an application under the same act.^[3] The main differences from the automatic process are these:

	Automatic set-aside	Set-aside by application
Available for misdemeanor domestic assault?	No[2]	Yes[3]
Waiting period	Not applicable to domestic assault[1]	5 or more years after the last of the listed events, such as sentencing or completion of probation[19]
Who decides	No application is filed[2]	A judge, who may grant it if the applicant's circumstances and behavior warrant it and it is consistent with the public welfare[20]
Victim's role	Not applicable to domestic assault[1]	The victim is notified and has the right to appear and make a statement[21]
Lifetime limit for assaultive crimes	Excluded[1]	Not more than 2 convictions[22]

Even a set-aside granted by application leaves some effects in place. The conviction may still be considered a prior conviction for purposes of charging a later crime as a second or subsequent offense.^[23] See Second and third offense domestic violence.

Can an automatic set-aside be reversed?

This matters to people whose other convictions were cleared automatically. The court must reinstate a conviction that was set aside automatically if it was not actually eligible.^[24] The court must also reinstate one for which restitution was ordered if it determines that the individual "has not made a good-faith effort to pay the ordered restitution."^[24]

What people get wrong

The belief that "everything comes off after seven years" is widespread, and for domestic assault it is wrong. Assaultive crimes and serious misdemeanors are excluded from the automatic process.^[1] Someone who assumes otherwise and answers a job application as though the conviction were gone may be giving an inaccurate answer, because the conviction is still on the public record until a court sets it aside.

The opposite belief, that a domestic violence conviction can never be expunged, is also wrong for misdemeanors, which are eligible by application after 5 years.^[3]

The practical step is to check instead of assume. ICHAT is the State Police tool for searching public criminal history record information, and a search of your own name shows what the public record currently contains.^[25] What appears there, and why, is explained in What shows on your record after an arrest and Jobs and background checks. Other common misunderstandings are collected in Michigan domestic violence myths.