Expungement Clinic happening this morning at 10

There will be a free expungement clinic in Vicksburg at the Vicksburg Municipal Court to assist individuals with representing themselves in expunging their criminal records. The event is being hosted by the Magnolia Bar Association.  Other sponsors include the Vicksburg Municipal Court, the Vicksburg Police Department, Judge Toni Terrett of the Ninth Judicial District, the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project (MVLP) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in conjunction with SPLC’s Road to 60 Campaign. Individuals will receive legal advice and court documents prepared by licensed Mississippi attorneys if all eligibility requirements are satisfied. The event location is the Vicksburg Municipal Court 820 Veto Street, Vicksburg, MS and will begin at 10:00 am.  Vicksburg Municipal Court Judge Angela Carpenter stated, “We are so grateful to be able to provide this much needed service in the Vicksburg/Warren County community.  This event will allow many of our residents to get a fresh start in life whether for employment, housing, voting, and any other matters affected by criminal infractions.”

This legal clinic is open to the public; however, interested participants must register online at www.mvlp.org/clinics to find out if they are eligible for services and to schedule an appointment. Individuals seeking an expungement must bring their abstract (municipal/justice court) and/or indictment, capias, sentencing order (circuit court), and discharge order. All participants must present a valid state-issued ID. EXPUNGEMENT PARTICIPANTS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RECEIVE SERVICES IF THE PROPER DOCUMENTS ARE NOT OBTAINED PRIOR TO THE CLINIC.

The legal clinics are self representation clinics, meaning the individuals who attend and receive services from the attorneys are empowered to handle their legal matters in court on their own. The clinics are designed to assist self-represented litigants in preparing to go to court.

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About the Magnolia Bar Association

The Magnolia Bar Association was organized in the fall of 1955 in the law office of the late Attorney Jack H. Young, Sr. in the Redmond Building at 115- ½ North Farish St., Jackson, MS. The founders of the Magnolia Bar Association were Attorneys James A. Burnes, Meridian, MS; Mayor Benjamin T. Green, Mound Bayou, MS; Emette Perkins, Natchez, MS; Onette Johnson, Prentiss, MS; Jack H. Young, Sr., Jackson, MS; Carsie A. Hall, Jackson, MS; and R. Jess Brown, Vicksburg, MS. These eight lawyers constituted practically the entire Black bar of Mississippi. Today, the Magnolia Bar Association has a membership of over a hundred Black lawyers, some who are serving as federal and state judges, city prosecutors, united states attorneys, district attorneys, assistant district attorneys, assistant attorney generals, legal service counselors and in other positions, and many who are engaged in the private practice of law.