Recent law graduate student Kristen Longmire wears a pin to support the NC Second Chance Alliance, a non-profit working to address the barriers of criminal records in the state.

LUMBERTON— Some Robeson County residents with criminal records had a chance to get a fresh start Thursday.

The Blanchard Community Law Clinic, part of Campbell University’s law school, partnered with the Robeson County Reentry Council and county officials, to provide expungements for about 45 people. 

Residents with low-level charges and convictions within the last 10 years got legal assistance from law students and attorneys on site in Lumberton at the Osterneck Auditorium. The county’s district attorney, chief district court judge, and clerk of court were there to immediately grant the expungements. 

This is the third event hosted by the law clinic this year and the first in Robeson County.

From setbacks to comebacks

Expungements, which permanently remove criminal records, can take up to a year in North Carolina. At the clinic Thursday, the process took less than an hour.