Rhode Island court officials announced Thursday they had expunged more than 23,000 marijuana possession charges as required under the state’s new legalization law.

“The automatic expungement of marijuana charges has been an organizational feat,” said State Court Administrator Julie P. Hamil. “There has been coordination at every level of the Judiciary to execute this process in a timely and holistic fashion.”

The Rhode Island cannabis act, passed by the General Assembly last year, made possession of certain amounts of marijuana now legal.

The act provided for the automatic expungement of prior simple marijuana possession charges. The expungement provision does not apply to other marijuana convictions such as for selling, delivering, or manufacturing the drug.

Usually someone would have to file a request to have a record expunged. The act modified that process and required the courts to automatically expunge any eligible cases, free of charge.

In accordance with the act, Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell signed an executive order in January outlining the process for implementing the expungement provisions.

All criminal convictions for marijuana possession committed by individuals 18 and older, and all civil violations committed by anyone 21 and older would be expunged.