This semester, students, staff, and faculty at Rio Hondo College with existing convictions can register for The Access Project (TAP) until April to petition for a clean slate, allowing individuals to reduce or expunge prior convictions from their legal record potentially.

Individuals who apply for the TAP will have access to extensive assistance. According to TAP, a nonprofit, the program will fully cover an assortment. They include those “for reviewing your record and applying for relief,” in addition to covering Live Scan fingerprinting and court filing fees.

Ahead of the registration deadline, TAP is hosting a free Live Scan on campus in the Student Union building, room 206, Friday, April 7. But if you can’t make it to campus that day, you can go to other nearby Live Scan locations in surrounding cities, such as Whittier, Montebello, and Pico Rivera.

The deadline to register and complete the Live Scan fingerprinting is Saturday, April 15, according to the TAP website, while the target date for petitions to be turned in is listed as being by Friday, August 15.

TAP is assisting the Rio Hondo College community as part of a partnership between the College’s RISE Scholars Program and the nonprofit organization. 

The organization, in partnership with the Rising Scholars Network–part of the Foundation for California Community Colleges, which aids the California Community Colleges–created the Rising Scholars Network Clean Slate Program. 

The RISE Scholars Program was formed at Rio Hondo College in 2017. Its mission is to provide “formerly incarcerated students or those impacted by the criminal justice system with the knowledge and resources to make their educational or vocational journey at Rio Hondo College successful.”