Hawaii's Legislature created a state-run expungement pilot in 2024, with the Attorney General's Office finding and clearing eligible records, Hawai'i Public Radio reported in January 2025. It covers non-conviction marijuana possession arrest records on Hawaii Island from before 2020.
About a month in, 196 records had been expunged out of an estimated 2,200 or more eligible. Agencies' records often conflicted on details such as drug type, slowing the work. The existing individual process costs $35 for a first expungement; the pilot is free to applicants. A state task force is studying expanding state-initiated expungement, including to convictions.
Why it matters: The pilot reaches arrests that never led to a conviction, not convictions or sentences.
Source: Hawai'i Public Radio, 2025-01-24. Forgotten Prisoner's account is based on this reporting.