The Clean Slate Act of 2025 adds two new sections to chapter 227 of title 18 that create a federal regime for sealing certain criminal records. It requires automatic sealing for (a) federal arrests that do not result in charges within 180 days or that end in acquittal, and (b) convictions for simple marijuana possession (21 U.S.C. 844) and certain nonviolent marijuana offenses one year after completion of sentence.
The bill also creates a petition-based path to seal other nonviolent federal convictions after a waiting period and court balancing test.
This is the first statute to mandate automatic sealing at the federal level and shifts substantial procedural and technical work to the Department of Justice, federal courts, and contracted technology partners. It narrows public access to covered records while preserving law-enforcement, national-security, firearms, and controlled-substances employment exceptions; it also criminalizes unauthorized disclosures and provides narrow employer immunity for misconduct tied to sealed records.
The Act applies retroactively and requires courts and agencies to implement rules and reporting mechanisms.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill creates §3560 (automatic sealing) and §3560A (petition sealing). Records relating to acquittals are sealed within 60 days; arrests with no charges are sealed after 180 days; covered marijuana convictions and some nonviolent offenses are sealed automatically one year after sentence completion. For other nonviolent federal convictions, an eligible person can file a sealing petition after serving their sentence and wait one year, triggering a court balancing test.
Who It Affects
Directly affected individuals are people arrested on federal charges but not prosecuted, and people convicted of simple federal marijuana/nonviolent offenses. Affected institutions include federal courts, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, DOJ components that must write rules and process seals, background-check vendors, employers, and contractors building secure sealing systems.
Why It Matters
This statute creates a federal clean-slate mechanism rather than relying on state law or discretionary record policies. It changes what background checks will show, reallocates burdens to federal agencies and courts, and establishes criminal penalties and access carve-outs that will shape how sealed records are used for hiring, licensing, and investigations.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill inserts two new federal sections that work together. Section 3560 focuses on automatic sealing: when a person is acquitted, the court must seal relevant federal records within 60 days; when an arrested person faces no federal charges within 180 days the related records are sealed automatically; and for specified marijuana convictions and certain nonviolent marijuana offenses the court must order records sealed automatically one year after the individual completes the sentence (including probation or supervised release) and satisfies all conditions.
The statute defines who is excluded (sex offenders, certain national-security or violent offenders) and narrowly defines the set of marijuana-related offenses that qualify.
Sealing under the bill does not equal erasure. Sealed records become inaccessible to the public and are excluded from ordinary background checks, but federal law-enforcement agencies and courts retain access for investigations and prosecutions.
The Act authorizes access for background checks tied to law‑enforcement employment, national-security or high-risk public-trust positions, firearms or explosives work, and employment handling controlled substances. It also protects sealed people from prosecution under perjury statutes for failing to disclose sealed information in ordinary contexts, with exceptions for testimony in court, law-enforcement questioning in subsequent investigations, and some employment or authorization processes.The bill creates a distinct, petition-based pathway (§3560A) for other nonviolent federal convictions: an eligible petitioner (limited to people with no more than two qualifying felony convictions, with certain rules treating contemporaneous acts as one conviction) may file a sealing petition no earlier than one year after completing sentence.
The court must notify the prosecuting U.S. Attorney and, where possible, victims. The government may support or oppose sealing at a hearing the court holds within 180 days; the government bears the burden of showing its interest in disclosure outweighs the petitioner’s rehabilitation and employment interests.
Magistrate judges may handle hearings and make recommendations; denials carry a two-year waiting period before refiling.Implementation tasks fall to the Attorney General and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The AG must issue rules and ensure automatic sealing occurs; courts must publish annual, disaggregated reports on petitions and outcomes.
The bill also requires the Administrative Office or DOJ to contract with technology vendors or make grants to build secure systems for sealing and controlled access. Finally, the statute criminalizes unauthorized access or disclosure of sealed records (up to one year imprisonment and fines) while granting a limited employer immunity from liability for misconduct tied to sealed portions of an employee’s record.
The Five Things You Need to Know
A covered record is sealed automatically 60 days after an acquittal or exoneration; sealed automatically 180 days after an arrest if no federal charges are filed within that period.
Convictions under 21 U.S.C. 844 (simple marijuana possession) and certain federal nonviolent marijuana offenses are automatically sealed one year after the individual completes all sentence requirements (including probation and conditions).
The Government must promulgate rules and the AG has two years to ensure retroactive sealing for qualifying prior arrests and convictions; courts must report annually with disaggregated data on petitions and outcomes.
Sealed records are excluded from routine background checks but remain accessible to federal law enforcement, courts, and for background checks tied to national-security, law-enforcement, firearms/explosives, or controlled-substance employment.
Unauthorized access or disclosure of sealed records is a crime (fine, up to 1 year imprisonment, or both); the Act also provides limited employer immunity for claims arising from misconduct tied to sealed record portions.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Definitions and scope of covered records
This subsection defines key terms: 'covered individual' (excludes sex offenders and certain national-security/violent offenders), 'covered nonviolent offense', and 'covered nonviolent offense involving marijuana'. The bill narrows qualifying marijuana offenses by excluding offenses involving other controlled substances, violence-related guideline enhancements, RICO and certain trafficking sections, and some distribution-to-minors provisions. The definitions matter: they gate who gets automatic relief and shape how courts and prosecutors categorize prior conduct.
Automatic sealing triggers: acquittal, no-charge arrest, and certain marijuana/nonviolent convictions
Courts must order automatic sealing in three scenarios: (1) acquittal/exoneration—sealed within 60 days; (2) arrest with no charges—sealed 180 days after arrest unless charges are filed (a court may unseal if the government later needs to file); and (3) convictions under 21 U.S.C. 844 or specified nonviolent marijuana offenses—sealed one year after the individual completes every sentence requirement. Practically, the requirement moves sealing from discretionary to ministerial in these categories and imposes clear timelines on courts and agencies.
Effects of sealing, access carve-outs, perjury protection, and penalties
Sealed records are off-limits to the public and excluded from typical background checks. The statute bars prosecutions for failing to disclose sealed information in ordinary settings (e.g., job applications), with narrow exceptions for court testimony, law-enforcement questioning in later investigations, and authorized background checks discussed below. Federal law enforcement and courts retain access for investigatory/prosecutorial use, and they may disclose sealed content only to fulfill those purposes. Unauthorized access or disclosure is a federal crime punishable by fines and up to one year imprisonment. The bill also clarifies that sealing does not prevent courts from vacating convictions by other means.
Attorney General rulemaking, retroactivity, employer immunity, and tech partnerships
The Attorney General must issue rules to operationalize sealing across federal agency records; the statute applies retroactively and requires the AG to ensure records from earlier arrests/convictions are sealed within two years of enactment. The bill provides narrow employer immunity for claims tied to misconduct related to sealed portions of an employee's record. It further directs the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts or the AG to contract with or grant to technical partners to build secure digital systems for automated sealing and controlled access, signaling both an IT procurement and grantmaking obligation.
Petition pathway, notice/hearing rules, burden, and reporting
Section 3560A lets eligible individuals petition to seal other nonviolent federal convictions after a minimum waiting period (one year after sentence completion). The court must notify the prosecuting U.S. Attorney and, when requested by the petitioner, potential witnesses; U.S. Attorneys must make reasonable efforts to notify victims. The statute sets a 180‑day target for holding a sealing hearing, allows magistrate judges to make recommendations, and places the burden on the Government to show its disclosure interests outweigh the petitioner’s rehabilitation and employment interests. Denials carry a two‑year bar to refiling; the AOUSC must provide a universal petition form and an indigent fee‑waiver process, and courts must publish annual, disaggregated sealing statistics.
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Explore Justice in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- People acquitted of federal charges or arrested but not charged: their records are removed from public view quickly (60‑ or 180‑day timelines), which reduces collateral barriers to housing and employment.
- Individuals convicted of simple federal marijuana possession or qualifying nonviolent marijuana offenses: automatic sealing one year after sentence completion removes those records from routine background screens without requiring petitions.
- Eligible petitioners convicted of other nonviolent federal felonies: a clear judicial pathway exists to request sealing, with notice, hearings, and a government burden to oppose sealing.
- Employers and reentry-service providers: employer immunity for claims tied to sealed portions reduces some litigation risk, and sealed records improve workforce-placement prospects for formerly convicted people.
Who Bears the Cost
- Department of Justice and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices: they must develop rules, respond to sealing notices, litigate sealing hearings, and perform victim-notification duties—adding staff time and litigation tasks.
- Federal courts and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts: courts must process automatic orders, hold hearings within tight windows, publish annual reports, and the AOUSC must create forms and manage fee-waiver rules.
- Background-screening companies and consumer-reporting vendors: widespread sealing reduces the universe of searchable federal records and may require changes to screening products and data feeds.
- Technology contractors (and federal procurement budgets): the bill directs DOJ/AO to contract with or grant to technology providers to build secure sealing systems, creating procurement demand and implementation costs.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between expanding second chances—by hiding past federal arrests and many marijuana convictions from public view—and preserving the government's and employers' need for information tied to safety, national security, and regulated work: the Act restores privacy for many people but explicitly preserves exceptions that blunt that privacy in contexts the government deems sensitive, leaving courts and agencies to balance competing interests in practice.
The bill threads a narrow path between restoring opportunities for people with low‑level federal offenses and preserving investigative and public‑safety uses of records. Operationally, automatic sealing requires accurate, interoperable record‑keeping across federal agencies and courts; achieving true automation will likely require nontrivial IT builds, sustained funding, and data‑mapping across legacy systems.
The statute’s retroactivity clause forces agencies to identify and seal historic records within two years—practical compliance will depend on record quality and the AG’s rulemaking choices.
The exemptions that allow law enforcement and certain employer/agency background checks to see sealed records create both legal and privacy risks. Retaining access for national-security/background‑check purposes reduces the rehabilitative effect of sealing for people seeking certain positions and raises questions about who decides when access is appropriate.
Criminal penalties for unauthorized disclosure strengthen deterrence but depend on monitoring and forensic logging; enforcement against private data brokers or courts with accidental leaks could prove legally and politically contentious. Finally, sealing is not expungement: many collateral consequences—statutory bars to gun possession, immigration consequences, and certain licensing prohibitions—may remain if other statutes or agencies interpret sealing differently.
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