Marijuana Possession Expungement

General Information

The Rhode Island Cannabis Act (Act), passed by the General Assembly in 2022, made possession of certain amounts of marijuana legal. The Act also provided for the automatic expungement of prior marijuana possession charges. Expungement means the removal and destruction of records relating to the case(s) or charge(s) in question. Usually a person would have to file a request to have a record expunged, however, the Act requires the courts to automatically expunge any eligible case(s) and charge(s). The automatic expungement process is free.

All marijuana possession charges or counts that meet the criteria of amount and age will be automatically expunged. All criminal convictions committed by individuals eighteen (18) and over and all civil violations committed by individuals twenty-one (21) and over will be expunged. That means that the Executive Order does not apply to all other marijuana convictions including, but not limited to, the selling, delivering, or manufacturing of marijuana. The marijuana possession charges that will be expunged from a record are listed below.

All eligible convictions and civil violations will be automatically expunged. Marijuana possession charges that resulted in a civil violation will be automatically expunged by the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal. Where possession of marijuana resulted in a criminal conviction, the Superior and District Courts will process the expungements.

Cases where possession of marijuana was the only charge will be expunged by April 30, 2023. Cases where possession of marijuana was one of multiple charges or counts will be expunged by July 1, 2024. These dates are deadlines for completion but expungements will be ongoing prior to the deadlines. There will be coordinated record expungement across the Rhode Island Judiciary, the Attorney General’s Office, the State Police, and the law enforcement agency that filed the marijuana possession charge(s) with the court.

Individuals can search the Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal (Public Portal) to check the courts’ records to determine if a case(s) or charge(s) has been expunged. Once a case(s) or charge(s) is expunged, the information will no longer appear on the Public Portal. The courts are not allowed to provide any information to the public about expunged case(s) or charge(s).

Expedited Expungement

If you need your marijuana possession case(s) or charge(s) expunged sooner than the dates listed above, you can request an expedited expungement by submitting a Notice for Expedited Marijuana Possession Expungement to the court that heard your case. You may submit this notice in person or by email to the addresses listed below:

The Notice for Expedited Marijuana Possession Expungement is available to the left. The expedited expungement process is free. Requests for an expedited expungement will be processed within five (5) business days.