CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has announced the forgiveness and expungement of about half a million criminal cannabis cases.
Pritzker said Thursday he issued pardons for 9,210 low-level cannabis convictions, while Illinois State Police have wiped clean more than 492,000 non-felony cannabis-related arrest records.
The actions by Pritzker and state police are mandated by the Illinois law that legalized the licensed sale of marijuana starting in 2020. The law requires 47,000 cannabis-related arrest records created between 2013 and 2019 to be expunged by Friday.
With the expungement of all 492,129 cannabis arrest records, state police said they are four years ahead of the Jan. 1, 2025, statutory deadline for completing automatic expungements at the state level.
