A thriving city creates opportunity for all its residents and helps remove barriers that limit economic, social, physical, and mental well-being. Thousands of Detroiters who want to work and be a part of the City's comeback have been held back for too long because of past mistakes. In 2016, Mayor Duggan launched Project Clean Slate (PCS) to address this issue.

PCS is a free expungement program for Detroit residents, with the goal of helping Detroiters clear their criminal records to create better opportunities for employment, education, and housing.

Despite being eligible for expungement, many Detroiters do not apply for a variety of reasons: they do not know they are eligible; they are financially unable to retain an attorney, they have had a negative experience with the criminal justice system, or they do not know how to navigate the complex expungement process. PCS eliminates those barriers.

In 2019, Mayor Duggan worked with a bi-partisan group of state legislators to reform the state's expungement law. These reforms greatly expanded the number and types of convictions eligible for expungement and took effect on April 11, 2021. A second portion of that law, automatic expungement, took effect on April 11, 2023.