As part of Hirst Applegate’s commitment to provide pro bono services, attorneys Jason G. Mitchell and Billie LM Addleman help Wyoming residents with the expungement of felony convictions and restoration of voting rights. The firm is pleased to report a very recent success for a firm client who will now be eligible to vote for the first time in more than three decades.
Pursuant to Wyoming statute, a non-violent convicted felon can have their voting rights restored through an application to the Wyoming Department of Corrections. To qualify, the applicant’s sentence must have been completed prior to January 1, 2010. Further, the applicant cannot have any other felony convictions and the felony conviction must have been a non-violent offense. Just recently, Mitchell and Addleman successfully obtained a restoration of voting rights in advance of the coming national and state election. On October 12, 2020, the Wyoming Department of Corrections restored the client’s voting rights and the client will be eligible to vote on November 3, 2020 for the first time in 35 years.
Addleman and Mitchell will also file a Petition for Expungement of the criminal conviction with a Wyoming District Court to expunge the earlier conviction and fully restore the client’s rights. If the felony is not of a type excluded by statute, expungements are available after ten years of the expiration of all sentencing terms. The applicant cannot have been convicted or pled guilty to another felony. An expungement places the court files of the conviction under seal, effectively making it easier for applicants to pursue education, employment, and other opportunities which are difficult to obtain with a felony record.