The Kern County Public Defender\u2019s Office is launching a series of free holiday-themed expungement clinics, which will allow eligible Kern County residents to clear their criminal records, which the office says will remove barriers to opportunity.<\/p>\n
A press release from the office said the first clinic, themed \u201cClean Out Those Skeletons,\u201d will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 28 at the Kern County Public Defender\u2019s Office, 1315 Truxtun Ave. in Bakersfield.<\/p>\n
“The goal is to make record clearing services more accessible to people who may otherwise believe the process is too expensive, too complicated, or out of reach,” the release said.<\/p>\n
The holiday series will continue with a Thanksgiving-themed clinic, \u201cSomething to Be Thankful For: A Fresh Start,\u201d followed by a December clinic, \u201cGive Yourself the Gift of a Fresh Start.”<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone deserves a second chance at life,” Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez said in the release.\u00a0“These free expungement clinics give our neighbors a chance to hit the reset button. We will clear eligible records, remove barriers to jobs and housing, and help them build their American Dream, all while making the community safer.”<\/p>\n
Delano Mayor Salvador Solorio Ruiz also expressed support in the release.<\/p>\n
\u201cExpungement events like this give people a meaningful opportunity to move forward,” Ruiz said. “When someone has served their time and is eligible for a fresh start, clearing their record can open doors to employment, housing and greater stability.”<\/p>\n
The clinic series is being organized and coordinated by Kern County Deputy Public Defender\u2019s attorney Claire Jenkins and Senior Investigator Johanna Romero, a post-Bar law student.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy partnering directly with our community, we\u2019re paving the way for a holistic approach to defense that better serves everyone,\u201d Romero said in the release.<\/p>\n
In the release Jenkins said the clinics are also about reminding clients that their past does not have to determine what comes next.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to show our clients that a criminal conviction doesn\u2019t define your future,\u201d Jenkins said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kern County Public Defender\u2019s Office is launching a series of free holiday-themed expungement clinics, which will allow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152,7,21224,723,35941,724,720,64010,192095,192094,735,47803],"class_list":["post-493813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-california","tag-clinic","tag-crime","tag-crime-statistics","tag-criminal-justice","tag-criminal-law","tag-criminal-procedure","tag-criminal-records","tag-expungement","tag-kern-county","tag-legal-procedure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}