WILL COUNTY, IL —Officials from the Will County Circuit Court and the county State’s Attorney’s Office have announced via press release that an expedited process is being pursued many, but not all, cannabis offense expungements in Will County.

These expungements mean that individuals with cannabis possession offenses on their public records will have those offenses permanently removed.

Expunging cannabis offenses as part of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act which legalized recreational marijuana use in Illinois. It states that all expungements for offenses logged between Jan. 1, 2013 and Jan. 1 2020 must be completed by Jan. 1, 2021.

The expedited process, the press release said, represents county officials’ attempts to beat that deadline by 9 months.

“State’s Attorney, James Glasgow said he anticipates filing a motion in March that will apply to all low-level cannabis possession cases involving offenses between January 1, 2013, and January 1,
2020 eligible for automatic expungement,” the release stated. “He also anticipates addressing low-level cannabis possession cases from earlier years in a subsequent motion.”

Chuck Squires, the Will County Chief Deputy Clerk, told Patch a blanket expungement motion in March may be “a little optimistic.” Still, he said he believes the motion could come sometime in the early Spring, perhaps in April.

According to Squires, more than 10,000 people in Will County could see their cannabis offenses erased, regardless of when the motion is filed.

One notable group excluded from the expedited expungement effort are people with cannabis delivery offenses. These offenses – in which individuals were charged with transporting marijuana – carry harsher penalties than simple possession.

Depending on the amount someone was convicted of transporting, they could have faced between six months and three years in prison.

The Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act include those with delivery offenses up to a level four felony as being eligible for record expungement, but the release states that neither the State’s Attorney nor the Will County Circuit Court will pursue an expedited process on their behalf.