Looking to get a ‘Clean Slate’? Lexington to host free expungement clinic, job fair
Lexington city officials will host an expungement and job fair later this month to help more people find jobs and housing, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton announced Tuesday.
The second annual expungement clinic and job fair, called Clean Slate, will allow those with misdemeanors and non-violent felony convictions access to free legal help through Legal Aid of the Bluegrass and private lawyers who are donating their time.
Criminal records are often a key barrier to getting a job or finding housing, Gorton said at a press conference Tuesday at city hall. “This allows second chance opportunities to vote, gain employment, improve education and attain housing.”
The expungement clinic will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Central Bank Center, 425 West High Street, on April 28. More than 35 employers will also be at a job fair in the same location. The job fair will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. People do not have to attend the expungement clinic to attend the job fair, said Tiffany Brown, the city’s equity and implementation officer.
“Clean Slate Lexington can open new doors to many in our community,” Brown said.
The city held its first expungement and job clinic in April 2022. More than 400 attended last year’s event, she said. Approximately 200 people were able to get their records expunged, city officials said.
Brown said the goal is to hopefully get people started on expungement and connect them directly with a job on April 28.
The job fair comes as Fayette County is experiencing one of its tightest job markets. Unemployment has hovered around, and sometimes below, 3.2%, one of the lowest in the state, for more than a year.
Brown said major employers scheduled to attend the event include Toyota and the University of Kentucky. The number of employers who will attend the event is expected to grow, she said.
“Having this increase in our job pool will have a huge impact on our community and the lives of individuals,” Brown said.
Goodwill Industries, the Lexington Public Library, Legal Aid of the Bluegrass and others are key sponsors of the event. To find out more about the event go to www.lexingtonky.gov/expungement-clinic-job-fair.
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilwoman Tayna Fogle praised the city’s efforts to help with expungement but said more needs to be done to address barriers to employment, particularly in minority communities, she said.
Fogle has been a long-time advocate for expungement, re-entry and recovery programs. Fogle was convicted of a felony drug charges years ago. She has not yet been able to expunge that felony charge.
“There are still so many barriers,” Fogle said of people wishing to expunge their criminal records.
One key barrier is identification.
“If you don’t have an I.D. it’s hard to get your record expunged,” she said.
The state legislature passed a law this legislative session that would make it easier for people, particularly unhoused individuals, to get state identification for $5. However, that law does not take effect until 2025.
