II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4161 

To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to States, units of local 

government, and Indian Tribes to reduce the financial and administrative 

burden of expunging convictions for cannabis offenses, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 18, 2024 

Ms. ROSEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to States, 

units of local government, and Indian Tribes to reduce 

the financial and administrative burden of expunging 

convictions for cannabis offenses, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Harnessing Opportuni5 ties by Pursuing Expungement Act of 2024’’ or the 

6 ‘‘HOPE Act of 2024’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 


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1 (1) CANNABIS.—The term ‘‘cannabis’’ means 

2 marijuana or cannabis, as defined under the State 

3 law authorizing the sale or use of cannabis in which 

4 an individual or entity is located. 

5 (2) CANNABIS OFFENSE.—The term ‘‘cannabis 

6 offense’’ means a criminal offense relating to can7 nabis— 

8 (A) that, under State law— 

9 (i) is no longer an offense; or 

10 (ii) was designated a lesser offense; or 

11 (B) for which the penalty under State 

12 law— 

13 (i) was reduced pursuant to or fol14 lowing the adoption of a State law author15 izing the sale or use of cannabis; 

16 (ii) does not include jail time; or 

17 (iii) includes some jail time following 

18 the adoption of a State law substantially 

19 reducing the amount of jail time. 

20 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti21 ty’’ means a State, a unit of local government, or an 

22 Indian Tribe. 

23 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

24 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 


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1 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

2 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

3 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

4 the several States of the United States, the District 

5 of Columbia, and any commonwealth or territory of 

6 the United States. 

7 (6) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

8 ‘‘unit of local government’’ means a county, munici9 pality, town, township, village, parish, borough, or 

10 other unit of general government below the State 

11 level. 

12 SEC. 3. STATE EXPUNGEMENT OPPORTUNITY GRANT PRO13 GRAM. 

14 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General may 

15 award grants to eligible entities to reduce the financial and 

16 administrative burden of expunging convictions for can17 nabis offenses that are available for individuals who have 

18 been convicted of cannabis offenses under the laws of the 

19 State. 

20 (b) NAME OF PROGRAM.—The grant program estab21 lished under this section shall be known as the ‘‘State 

22 Expungement Opportunity Grant Program’’. 

23 (c) APPLICATION.—The chief executive of an eligible 

24 entity seeking a grant under this section shall submit to 

25 the Attorney General an application at such time, in such 


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1 manner, and containing such information as the Attorney 

2 General may reasonably require. 

3 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

4 a grant under this section shall use funds from the 

5 grant— 

6 (1) for technology to provide cost-effective legal 

7 relief at scale; 

8 (2) to automate the process of expunging con9 victions for cannabis offenses; 

10 (3) for clinics, including legal clinics, that assist 

11 individuals through the expungement process; 

12 (4) to implement the notice requirement de13 scribed in subsection (e); 

14 (5) to seal records of conviction for cannabis of15 fenses, if appropriate; and 

16 (6) for other innovative partnerships to provide 

17 wide-scale relief to individuals who are eligible for 

18 the expungement of a conviction for a cannabis of19 fense under the laws of the State. 

20 (e) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—An eligible entity that 

21 receives a grant under this section shall— 

22 (1) publish on a publicly accessible website in23 formation about the availability and process of 

24 expunging convictions for cannabis offenses, includ25 ing information for individuals living in an area 


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1 other than the area under the jurisdiction of the eli2 gible entity who were convicted of a cannabis offense 

3 in the area under the jurisdiction of the eligible enti4 ty; and 

5 (2) implement a process to notify each indi6 vidual convicted of a cannabis offense— 

7 (A) when the expungement process has 

8 begun; and 

9 (B) when the expungement is complete, in10 cluding, if applicable, when an official certifi11 cate of expungement (or any other similar docu12 ment used by the eligible entity) has been 

13 issued. 

14 (f) REPORT.—An eligible entity that receives a grant 

15 under this section shall submit to the Attorney General 

16 a report describing— 

17 (1) the uses of funds from the grant; and 

18 (2) how many convictions for cannabis offenses 

19 have been expunged using funds from the grant. 

20 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 

22 to carry out this section $2,000,000 for each of fiscal 

23 years 2025 through 2034. 


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1 SEC. 4. STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF CRIMINAL OFFENSES 

2 RELATED TO CANNABIS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 

5 submit to Congress and make publicly available on the 

6 website of the Department of Justice a report on a study 

7 conducted on— 

8 (1) the effects of the appearance on an individ9 ual’s criminal record report of a conviction for a 

10 criminal offense relating to cannabis, including— 

11 (A) disqualifying the individual from fu12 ture opportunities in housing and employment; 

13 (B) increasing the likelihood that the indi14 vidual will have future involvement with the 

15 criminal justice system; 

16 (C) how any such effects differ based on 

17 demographics, including race; and 

18 (D) any other matters determined appro19 priate by the Attorney General; and 

20 (2) the costs incurred by States for incarcer21 ating an individual convicted for a criminal offense 

22 relating to cannabis. 

23 (b) CLARIFICATION.—The report submitted under 

24 subsection (a) may not include any personally identifiable 

25 information. 

Æ 


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