SB 5605, sponsored by Sen. Joe Nguyen (D–Seattle), has passed the Legislature, but must be included in the budget to become law.
The bill, as amended, does the following:
- Allows a person with prior convictions of misdemeanor marijuana possession to apply to the sentencing court for a vacation of their conviction record;
- Applies to applicants who were at least 21 years old at the time of the offense;
- Requires that the court must vacate the applicant’s conviction record and may not consider the restrictions applicable to vacating other misdemeanor convictions;
- Applies the bill to different but prior codifications of the same misdemeanor marijuana possession crime;
- Expands the authority to vacate criminal offenses to equivalent municipal ordinances; and
- Adds a null and void clause. If the bill is not funded in the final budget, it does not take effect.