In the heart of Utah, a public defender named Noella Sudbury encountered a persistent challenge: helping individuals with criminal records secure employment. The hurdles were immense, with employers often making snap judgments based on past offenses, particularly those involving drugs or retail theft.
Sudbury’s frustration led her to found Rasa Legal, a startup leveraging artificial intelligence to streamline the expungement process. The goal? To give people a fair chance at employment and a fresh start.
From Clinics to AI-Powered Solutions
Back in 2018, Sudbury organized expungement clinics in Salt Lake County, Utah. The turnout was overwhelming, with hundreds of people showing up, some traveling hours to attend. However, the manual process was time-consuming and inefficient. Lawyers spent up to an hour piecing together an individual’s record to determine eligibility for expungement.
The turning point came when a man arrived with a rolling suitcase filled with documents. The sheer volume of paper highlighted the need for a digital solution. Sudbury wondered, ‘Could I build an app? Could I use technology to reduce my time?’ She believed it was possible.
Rasa Legal’s AI Breakthrough
Rasa Legal’s tech team brought Sudbury’s vision to life, creating an app that can determine expungement eligibility in just three minutes. The AI has also cut the time it takes to file a petition by more than half. This technological leap allows Rasa to serve far more people than traditional legal aid organizations, which typically help a few hundred individuals each year.
Since launching its app in 2026, Rasa has helped clear the records of 34,000 people in Utah, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. With more than 70 million adults in the U.S. having some kind of criminal record, the potential impact is immense. Professor Colleen Chien of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, estimates that at least 20 million people could clear their records under existing laws but have not done so.
The Human Impact
Virginia Mireles’ story exemplifies the transformative power of Rasa’s work. Mireles, who grew up in poverty in Tucson, Arizona, struggled with drug addiction and spent a collective 17 years incarcerated. With five felony records, she faced significant barriers to housing and employment. ‘You can’t rent a house under your own name, and you can’t find a job that’s going to help you support your family,’ she shared.
Through Rasa, Mireles was able to expunge her criminal record. Today, she works with the company, helping others navigate the record clearance process. Her story underscores the importance of addressing the root causes of crime, such as mental health, trauma, substance use, and poverty.
Expungement as an Economic Tool
Most states allow for the sealing or expungement of certain criminal records, provided the individual remains crime-free for a specified period. Research shows that people with cleared records are less likely to commit new crimes and experience a significant increase in wages within a year of expungement.
Sudbury led the campaign to pass Utah’s Clean Slate law in 2019, which received unanimous support due to its economic and public safety benefits. However, even in states with clean slate laws, many records can only be cleared through a court petition. Rasa’s work is crucial in bridging this gap.
The Challenges Ahead
Bringing Rasa’s services to every state is a monumental task. Each state has its own laws, systems, and forms, with some counties even using paper records. Rasa works to establish data-sharing agreements with courts, corrections agencies, and private vendors. The team uses AI to code cases, analyze eligibility, and build forms specific to each state.
Rasa also employs AI to draft statements for court petitions, explaining why expungement should be approved. While the technology has made mistakes, particularly early on, it has significantly improved. More than 90% of the petitions filed by Rasa are approved. The time saved allows Rasa to keep its fees low, making the process more accessible to those in need.
The name Rasa comes from the Latin phrase tabula rasa meaning ‘blank slate.’ It also reflects the Spanish term la raza conveying ‘the people’ or ‘the community.’ Sudbury’s vision is to democratize the law, making it accessible to a group of people for the greater good.
For Virginia Mireles, working with Rasa has been a transformative experience. She shares her story with prospective clients, fostering a sense of understanding and connection. ‘We both know that we’re not judging anybody,’ she says. These human touchpoints are invaluable, offering hope and support to those who have faced countless barriers.
As Sudbury puts it, ‘It is possible for people to change, but not if they don’t believe they can. Not if someone else doesn’t believe they can.’ Through Rasa Legal, thousands have found the support and resources they need to turn their lives around.
