FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Selena Coomer fought hard to not let her past define her, but part of getting to that point was clearing the criminal record that followed her.
"I am about to celebrate 17 years in recovery from drugs and alcohol," Coomer said.
As she adopted a sober lifestyle, she also wanted to adopt a new career. She knew attending nursing school may not be possible with a list of misdemeanors on her criminal record.
That's when she decided to look into expungement, the process of removing arrests, charges, or convictions from one's public record.
In Kentucky, expungement is available for eligible people looking to clear misdemeanors and some low-level felonies from their record after a waiting period, which is commonly five to 10 years.
Coomer is working with Dream.org and the Clean Slate Initiative to make the process an automatic one.
"It would remove the red tape involved in getting an expungement," she said.
Currently, it can take months to move through the process of clearing one's record, with applications, fees and courthouse visits typically involved.
"The clean slate initiative would automate that process, you wouldn't have to go through that," she said.
According to research by the Clean Slate Initiative, more than 500,000 Kentuckians may currently be eligible for expungment, based off of 2019 data. Roughly 38% of Kentuckians have a record of some kind.
Coomer is currently working with lawmakers to get a bill introduced during the current legislative session.
Similar bills have failed to move through the general assembly in the past, which Coomer credits to outdated technology. She believes this year will be different.
"I think we have a very good chance. Our coalition is huge and it spans across the state and it's many different people coming together," she said.
Miranda Montgomery is the re-entry supervisor at Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, helping lead expungement clinics across the state. She's seen the challenges in navigating the expungement process herself.
"I don't understand the reasoning why they need to jump through a bunch of legal hoops to get their record expunged," Montgomery said.
She added that she and Goodwill support automatic expungements, as she believes they can help people with records build a new life without stigma.
From continuing their education, to securing a dream job, to something as simple as chaperoning a field trip with their children, both Montgomery and Coomer know the impact automatic expungements could have on thousands of Kentuckians.
"This will be a wonderful second chance for a lot of people and for the state of Kentucky," said Coomer.
