HALF A MILLION
Illinois residents recently received nearly 500,000 expungements of low-level cannabis convictions, which were signed off by Governor JB Pritzker. Under the state’s Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, officials promised that non-felony cannabis arrest records from 2013 to 2019, totaling 47,000 eligible cases, would be cleared by January 1, 2021. By 2025, the state is expected to be up and running with automatic expungement. Illinois is now well ahead of schedule, having already reached 492,129 expungements. Some counties, though, have their work cut out for them and still have to deal with their own convictions by issuing local expungements by 2025. Other counties, including DuPage, Kane, Knox, Lake, McHenry, McLean, Peoria, Rock Island, Will and Winnebago, already have their records expunged. Additionally, Governor Pritzker issued nearly 10,000 pardons…