USVI Cannabis Expungements Under Act 8680

Act 8680, the Virgin Islands Cannabis Use Act, expunges qualifying cannabis convictions in Virgin Islands Superior Court automatically. The Superior Court issues the orders based on an eligibility list produced by the Office of Cannabis Regulation (OCR), built on the recommendations of an Auto-Expungement working group convened by the Office of the Governor. There is no petition to file. There is no fee. If a conviction is on the eligibility list, the expungement happens by court order on the schedule the statute sets.

This page explains how the framework works, what is and is not in scope, and what the statute itself does not answer.

What the statute says

Act 8680 Section 3 is short. It is reproduced here in full because the entire framework runs on these few subsections.

SECTION 3.

(a) The Office of the Governor shall create an Auto-Expungement working group that includes, but is not limited to, participants from relevant Territorial departments and agencies necessary to expunge Cannabis-related crimes, and any non-profit legal service organization deemed to be necessary to the work to be performed by the Auto-Expungement working group. Based upon recommendations from the Auto-Expungement working group, the Office of Cannabis Regulations shall issue an Auto-Expungement report no later than 10 months from the date of enactment of this act that details: (1) Classifications of crimes that must be expunged for persons convicted for reasons solely related to possession, control, or sale of cannabis, classification of crimes that may be expunged; and the classification of crimes that cannot be expunged under any circumstances; (2) Administrative processes necessary for the Territory to expunge certain cannabis related crimes; and (3) Funding necessary to implement the recommendations of this report.

(b) All relevant territorial agencies shall follow the directed recommendations of the Auto-Expungement report.

(c) Upon issuance of the Annual Auto-Expungement report to the Governor, Legislature, and Supreme Court, the Superior Court shall issue an order expunging each conviction for cannabis use or possession offenses entered by the court prior to the date of the Auto-Expungement report for such persons deemed to be eligible for Auto-Expungement.

(d) Each year following the issuance of the Auto-Expungement report, the OCR shall issue a report detailing any amendments necessary to its initial recommendations and the progress towards expunging Cannabis related crimes until all the recommendations in the Auto-Expungement report have been fully addressed.

The chapter’s defined term mirrors that structure. Act 8680 § 776(d) defines “Auto-Expungement” as “the review of criminal records of individuals convicted of Cannabis related crimes and expunging qualifying records, as determined by the Auto-Expungement report and subsequent amendments issued by the OCR.”

What “automatic” actually means

The statute’s word is “automatic,” and most jurisdictions that legalize cannabis use that word loosely. In Act 8680, it is structural. The mechanism is:

1. The Office of the Governor convenes an Auto-Expungement working group, which may include territorial agencies and non-profit legal service organizations.
2. The working group recommends classifications. OCR turns those recommendations into an Auto-Expungement report, due no later than ten months from the date of enactment.
3. The report sorts cannabis-related convictions into three buckets: must expunge, may expunge, and cannot be expunged under any circumstances.
4. OCR issues the report to the Governor, the Legislature, and the Supreme Court.
5. Upon issuance, the Superior Court issues an order expunging each qualifying conviction. The court does this on its own motion, working from the OCR eligibility list. Eligible individuals do not file anything.
6. Annually thereafter, OCR issues a follow-up report detailing any amendments to the original recommendations and the progress made, until all recommendations are fully addressed.

Two features distinguish this from a petition-based regime. First, the statute uses “shall issue an order,” which is ministerial language: the Superior Court is directed to act, not to weigh equities case by case. Second, eligibility comes off an OCR-produced list, not an individual filing. A person whose conviction is on the list does not need to prove anything.

Which offenses are eligible

Act 8680 itself does not enumerate the specific offenses. It defines the universe (“persons convicted for reasons solely related to possession, control, or sale of cannabis”) and instructs OCR to populate the three classifications by report.

The definitive list lives in the OCR Auto-Expungement report, not in the statute. As of the date of this page, vibehigh.vi has not been able to confirm a published or publicly released version of that report. Any guide claiming to list “the specific offenses Act 8680 expunges” is sourcing that list from somewhere other than the statute, and the source is the OCR report. If you are checking your own eligibility, the question to ask OCR or a Virgin Islands legal-aid organization is whether OCR has finalized and circulated its Auto-Expungement report, and whether your conviction appears on the eligibility list.

What the framework does not cover

Three categories of conviction sit outside Act 8680 Section 3.

Federal convictions. Act 8680 only reaches the Virgin Islands Superior Court. If you were convicted in the District Court of the Virgin Islands or in any other federal court, that record is governed by federal law and federal procedure. Act 8680 cannot expunge it. The Section 3 language is explicit about which court issues the order (“the Superior Court shall issue an order”). Nothing in Section 3 authorizes any court to disturb a federal conviction.

Non-cannabis drug convictions. The statutory eligibility universe is “persons convicted for reasons solely related to possession, control, or sale of cannabis.” A conviction that included other controlled substances, or that was charged under a generic territorial drug statute alongside non-cannabis conduct, is not within scope. Act 8680 does not amend territorial criminal-records law generally; it amends only the cannabis piece.

Conduct still illegal under chapter 34. Act 8680 legalizes adult possession within the § 785 limits and authorizes a defined set of license and permit categories. Conduct outside those boundaries (sale by an unlicensed party, cultivation by someone other than a Qualified Patient, Sacramental User, or Micro-Cultivation Permittee, distribution to a minor) is not “cannabis-related conduct that this chapter now considers legal.” The statute’s expungement framework does not reach those convictions, even though they are cannabis offenses on their face.

What is not yet answered

The statute’s text is the part that is settled. The parts that depend on the OCR Auto-Expungement report, including the specific list of must-expunge offenses, the must-expunge versus may-expunge breakdown, the notice procedures, and the funding mechanism, are determined by OCR under § 3(a). vibehigh.vi will update this guide as OCR releases the report and any annual amendments.

If you have a specific eligibility question, the right offices to ask are the Office of Cannabis Regulation (within the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs) and a Virgin Islands legal-aid organization familiar with Superior Court records. For background on the broader statute, see Is weed legal in the US Virgin Islands?.

Sources

This page cites Act 8680 directly. The verbatim Section 3 quote and the § 776(d) definition are reproduced from the enacted text codified at title 19 V.I.C. chapter 34. Cross-references to Act 8680 sections (§ 776, § 785) refer to the same chapter. Where the statute is silent, this page says so explicitly rather than filling gaps from secondary summaries.

This page is a plain-English summary, not legal advice. For a question about your specific case, consult a Virgin Islands attorney.