Living Word Christian Center on W. Roosevelt is Site of 11th Annual Expungement Summit

CHICAGO – Honorable Dorothy Brown, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County; Honorable Anthony Calderone, Mayor of Forest Park; Honorable Amy Campanelli, Cook County Public Defender; Dr. Bill Winston, Pastor of Living Word Christian Center; and an array of judicial, governmental, legal, community and religious organizations and agencies, will present the 11th Annual Adult and Juvenile Expungement Summit at Living Word Christian Center, 7600 W. Roosevelt Rd, Forest Park, IL, on Saturday, June 6, 2015; registration begins at 8:30 a.m.

“This is an opportunity for individuals who qualify to expunge their court records; a second chance for them to be law-abiding, productive members of society,” said Clerk Brown. “We are attempting to remove as many impediments as possible for people who are attempting to better themselves and their families’ quality of life.”

For the past ten years, the extremely successful, full-service, community-based Expungement Summits have attracted 2,500 to 3,000 people each year. Summit attendees are seeking to improve their ability to obtain employment and other opportunities by having expungeable offenses removed from their criminal histories.

At the summit, volunteer attorneys help prepare applications for the filing of petitions that qualify for expungement and sealing. Representatives from the Cook County Public Defender and Cabrini Green Legal Aid also assist attendees with legal concerns. The Chicago Police Department and Illinois State Police hold informational sessions on their expungement petition review process. Additional presentations are made by representatives of the State Appellate Defender and the Illinois Attorney General.

Individuals who do not qualify for expungement may attend a panel discussion conducted by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board to learn about Certificates of Good Conduct and Relief from Disabilities, as well as how to prepare letters for clemency and/or pardons from the governor.

A host of other agencies provide information on employment, job training, health care, housing, voter registration and other services for ex-offenders. The Illinois Department of Employment Security will hold an information session on job placement for ex-offenders.

To have a petition filed on site, the petitioner must bring a rap sheet (criminal history). For suburban cases, individuals may obtain their criminal case(s) information from the local police agency where they were arrested by requesting a Right to Access and Review. Contact the local police agency for more details. For Chicago cases, individuals may obtain their rap sheets from Chicago Police Headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan, no later than two weeks prior to the summit.

There are filing fees associated with expungement and sealing, which may include $120 per petition for Adult Expungement/Sealing ($60 for the Clerk’s Office and $60 for the Illinois State Police), $9 per certified disposition (adult cases) and $64 per petition for Juvenile Expungement.

For additional information about the 2015 Expungement Summit, please call (312) 603-5200 or visit the Clerk’s Office web site at www.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org.

The Expungement Summit is being sponsored by Clerk Brown, along with the Hon. Anthony Calderone, Mayor of Forest Park; Honorable Amy Campanelli, Cook County Public Defender; Dr. Bill Winston, Pastor, Living Word Christian Center; Baptist Ministers Conference of Chicago & Vicinity; Black Women Lawyers’ Association; Cabrini Green Legal Clinic; CAPS; Chicago Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Chicago Police Department; Chicago Public Schools; Cook County Bar Association; Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois; Illinois Attorney General’s Office; Illinois Department of Employment Security; Illinois Prisoner Review Board; Illinois State Appellate Defender; Illinois Department of Healthcare & Family Services; Illinois State Police; Joseph Business School, Journey to Empowerment; NAACP; Pastors United for Change; Safer Foundation; West Suburban Bar Association; and Westside Ministers Coalition.

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By CCNM

I have functioned as a Business and Media Consultant over the past sixteen years and spent many years developing my capacity to function in our ever evolving use of technology, communication, education and training.