Lead student counselors will work closely with the Educational Equity Fellow and Mithoff Pro Bono Scholars to manage 5-8 expunction and nondisclosure cases from intake through conclusion. Students will help people determine eligibility to expunge criminal records or obtain orders of nondisclosure of criminal records; obtain criminal records from courts and other agencies; draft petitions; and prepare individuals for pro se expunction hearings. 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
Educational Equity Project, Mithoff Pro Bono Program
The Expunction Project is an internal project of the Richard and Ginni Mithoff Pro Bono Program’s Educational Equity Project.
Project Details
- Project Start Date
September 2015; Lead student counselors must attend one complete Expunction Clinic cycle: Cycle 1 (Intake Session, Tuesday, September 22, 5:30pm-8:30pm; Work Session, Tuesday October 20, 5:30pm-8:30pm; AND Exit Session, Tuesday, November 3) AND/OR Cycle 2: (Intake Session, Tuesday, September 29, 5:30-8:30pm; Work Session, Tuesday, October 27, 5:30pm-8:30pm; AND Exit Session, Tuesday, November 10, 5:30-8:30pm)
- Approximate hours of work requested
- 20 hours during the fall semester, including training session
- Training
- Friday, September 18, 1pm-3pm (TNH 2.124) OR Monday, September, 21, 5pm-7pm (TNH 2.124)
- Skills used
- Client interviewing; document preparation/review
- Project location
- Travis County Law Library, 314 W. 11th Street
- Address
- 727 E. Dean Keeton Street, Austin, TX 78705
- Number of student volunteers requested
- 6
- Class year preference
- 1L, 2L, 3L, LLM
- Required skills
- Language: Spanish helpful but not necessary
- To Apply
- Submit email stating interest to Sarah Sedgwick at ssedgwick@law.utexas.edu; please indicate which training session you plan to attend and which 3-event Expunction Cycle(s) you can attend