Category Archives: Lobbying

Foundation Urges PA House Judiciary to Pass Expungement Bill SB 391

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Senate Bill 391, which received unanimous support in the Senate, would provide widespread benefits to the people of Pennsylvania. Twenty-one states, including conservative states like Utah, Indiana Oklahoma and Alabama, have expanded their expungement laws within the past five years. The public policy benefits of expungement are beyond dispute.

Tens of thousands of people in Pennsylvania have had their ability to achieve their potential negatively impacted by decade-old criminal records. These people are now no more likely to offend than any other citizen, yet they are being permanently mislabeled. The result is a tremendous waste of human capital and state resources. A large percentage of these former misdemeanants are very well educated, often at taxpayer expense, and are trained to perform important services, yet they are overlooked or passed over because they are mislabeled and unnecessarily appear risky. The consequences for Pennsylvania range from a less competitive work force to increased unemployment.

Expungement is more than just about saving money and maximizing resources, it is also about encouraging rehabilitation and treating people with dignity by recognizing that people make mistakes, people change, and some people deserve forgiveness, even from the state.

SB 391 strikes the right balance between both the public safety needs that criminal records serve, and the policy objectives of rewarding former misdemeanor offenders who are able to prove their rehabilitation to a judge. The fact that so many district attorneys support SB 391 is testament to the merits of this bill.

Pennsylvania’s current expungement law, which allows for summary offenses to be expunged after 5 years, has proven incredibly successful. It is time to expand expungement to those with non-violent misdemeanors who have been law abiding for more than 7 years.

New Arizona Bill Would Greatly Improve Record Clearing Law

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UPDATE: (Posted 10/26/2018) HB 2057, specifically regarding amending ARS 13-907, was never voted on in 2014 and remained a dead issue never to be resolved. You may send comments or complaints directly to Senate representative John Kavanagh-AZ or to his replacement at:

John Kavanagh
Office Phone​: (602) 926-5170
Email: [email protected]
Official Website Arizona State Senate: https://www.azsenaterepublicans.com/john-kavanagh

Arizona Rep. John Kavanaugh has introduced a bill that would provide much needed reform to Arizona’s outdated and largely ineffective post-conviction relief law that allows for the setting aside criminal convictions. The bill, HB 2057, would give a judge the power to seal a criminal record that has been set aside if good cause is shown.

Under current Arizona law, many former offenders can petition the court to set aside their conviction, which dismisses the case pursuant to ARS 13-907. This law, which is similar to California’s expungement law (CA Penal Code 1203.4), does provide minimal relief to former offenders, however, it only changes the record, it does not conceal or destroy the record. As a result, former offenders in Arizona often find that they are subject to a lifetime of humiliation and discrimination when seeking housing and employment, even when they are on longer convicted of the crime.

The lack of a way for rehabilitated former offenders to truly seal or expunge their records in Arizona is particularly unsettling as Arizona courts and prisons make their records easily accessible via the internet.

This bill is currently in the House Judiciary committee. Most states have rejected or amended similar bills that allowed judges such broad discretion to seal records. It would not be surprising to see the bill amended to include a waiting period and added exemptions that would allow certain licensing authorities (for example the State Bar or Board of Nursing) the ability to continue to have access to the sealed records.

Recommendations:

– Add a waiting period that starts from the time an offender’s sentence is completed (excluding the payment of fines if the petitioner can demonstrate that they were unaware of the outstanding balance or unable to pay)
– Allow certain licensing authorities access to records if the offense was within seven years.
– Provide a more instructional standard than “showing of good cause.” A standard such as “upon a showing of rehabilitation by clear and convincing evidence” may be more useful and provide more guidance to petitioners and the court.
– Provide guidance as to when an offense should be set-aside. Arizona courts provide unequal treatment of requests for relief under ARS 13-907. While courts outside of Maricopa County approve the majority of requests, courts in Maricopa approve far less than 50 percent of requests.

HR 2057 amends ARS 13-907 to add the following:

E. ON REQUEST AND A SHOWING OF GOOD CAUSE, THE JUDGE, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE OR MAGISTRATE MAY SEAL THE RECORD OF A PERSON WHOSE JUDGMENT OF GUILT IS SET ASIDE. IF THE JUDGE, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE OR MAGISTRATE SEALS THE RECORD, THIS STATE AND ANY AGENCY OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE MAY NOT KNOWINGLY DISPLAY OR DISCLOSE ANY INFORMATION THAT IS INCLUDED IN THE RECORD OF CONVICTION ON A PUBLIC WEBSITE OR IN RESPONSE TO A PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST. A PERSON WHOSE RECORD IS SEALED MAY REQUEST THAT THIS STATE AND ANY AGENCY OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE REMOVE FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE ANY INFORMATION THAT IS INCLUDED IN THE SEALED RECORD.

Proposed Bill Will Greatly Improve Indiana Expungement Law

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Indiana House Bill 1155, which improves Indiana’s expungement law that went into effect last summer, has passed the Indiana Legislature and is awaiting approval from Governor Mike Pence. HB 1155 gives individuals who petition for an expungement the opportunity to correct the form if they made a mistake on the petition. The bill also changes who will have access to expunged records, as well as the waiting periods for some felony convictions.

Last year Indiana passed the expungement law, known as the Second Chance Law, which allows expungement of certain convictions. The passage of that law was welcome news for former offenders in Indiana; but it is also a very complex law, and several problems arose in the months after it went into effect.

House Bill 1155 is intended to make several improvements to the law to ensure former offenders get the second chance they deserve. State Representative Jud McMillan, co-author of the bill, has explained that HB 1155 was drafted and proposed “to update and amend the Indiana Code to address several inconsistencies as well as make the overall process run more smoothly.”

Indiana’s expungement statute provides that if an expungement petition is denied, there is a three-year waiting period to reapply. Because under Indiana’s current expungement law an individual is only allowed one expungement in a lifetime, making a small mistake on the petition could be devastating for the individual. HB 1155 would allow the petitioner to submit a subsequent petition to include an additional conviction that was not included in the first filing if certain conditions, indicating the omission was made in good faith, are satisfied. Additionally, with the passage of HB 1155, the three-year waiting period to reapply will only apply to felony conviction expungements (excluding Class D felonies) that were denied due to the court’s exercise of its discretion.

The final version of HB 1155 also changes the waiting periods for some felony convictions. The current waiting period for those convicted of a felony offense that resulted in serious bodily injury or was committed while serving as an elected public official is ten years after completion of the sentence. HB 1155 changes the period to ten years after conviction or five years after completion of the sentence, whichever is later. The current waiting period for most other felonies is eight years after completion of the sentence. Under this bill that waiting period is amended to eight years after conviction or three years after completion of the sentence, whichever is later.

HB 1155 passed the House and was referred to the Senate on January 23, 2014. The Senate made amendments and passed the amended version on March 4. On March 6, the House voted on and concurred with the Senate’s amendments. If signed, the bill would become effective immediately upon passage.

Significant Changes to the Expungement Law Under HB 1155:

– Allows a petitioner to file a subsequent petition for a conviction not included in the original petition under certain circumstances.
– Removes the prohibition on a fee waiver or reduction for an indigent person.
– Prohibits a defendant from waiving the right to an expungement as part of a plea agreement.
– Lowers the burden of proof. The Court must find by a preponderance of the evidence, instead of by clear and convincing evidence, that all the requirements of expungement have been met.
– Grants the state board of law examiners access to expunged records to determine a person’s fitness for admission to the bar. Also grants a defense attorney and probation department access to expunged records, if authorized by court order.
– Changes the waiting period for some felony convictions.
– Specifies that expungement of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence does not restore firearm rights; an individual must go through the firearm rights restoration process provided in IC 35-47-4-7.
– Specifies that the petition to expunge a conviction may be filed in any circuit or superior court in the county of conviction, as opposed to the specific court of conviction.
– Removes inconsistent language in the current law regarding the arrest record expungement procedure.