Students will work alone or in pairs at student choice and be assigned one or two Expunction Project applicants. Students will finalize petitions to expunge criminal records or obtain orders of nondisclosure of criminal records, help prepare affidavits seeking waiver of filing fees, and prepare petitioners for the process of filing and obtaining a hearing on their petitions via individual Zoom appointments with applicants. Students will schedule Zoom exit appointments with applicants during windows of times the supervising attorney is available (TBD but staggered to work around student and applicant schedules). Expunging records allows people to legally deny offenses and erases records from criminal histories, mitigating future harm stemming from arrests that do not result in a criminal conviction. Orders of nondisclosure direct police departments and other agencies not to disclose criminal records on background checks, and allow a person to not disclose offenses on applications for housing or employment.
Organization
Mithoff Pro Bono Program
The Expunction Project is an internal project of the Richard and Ginni Mithoff Pro Bono Program.
Project Details
- Project Start Date
April 4-April 21
- Approximate hours of work requested
- 2-4 hours, including training
- Training
- Thursday, April 7, 6:15pm-7:15pm (Law School, Room 2.123) OR 1-1 training session with project staff
- Skills used
- Client interviewing; document preparation/review
- Project location
- Virtual
- Address
- 727 E. Dean Keeton Street, Austin, TX 78705
- Number of student volunteers requested
- 8
- Class year preference
- 1L, 2L, 3L, LLM
- Required skills
- Students with an interest in social justice, navigating the criminal justice system, and engaging with client records are encouraged to volunteer
- To Apply
- Register at https://expexit4-7-22.eventbrite.com