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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 16, 2013 12:54 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Jordan A. Harris and Rep. Ronald G. Waters, Rep. Patty Kim |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Automatic Expungement |
| In the near future, we will be introducing legislation that would require the automatic expungement of a person’s criminal record information for non-convictions or if the charges have been dismissed. Oftentimes individuals who are charged with crimes are never fully processed through the system. In many cases, charges are dismissed without prosecution. Yet many defendants in cases in which the charges were dropped or a not-guilty verdict was issued have criminal charges recorded on their information records indefinitely. In some cases, the information remains on an individual’s criminal information record even after he or she secures a court order requiring the expungement. As a result, these individuals may have a difficult time finding employment or housing. Under current law, a person must appear before a judge in order to have his or her record expunged for non-convictions or dismissed charges. Our legislation will require all of the repositories across the state that are responsible for maintaining criminal information records to automatically expunge non-convictions or dismissed charges after eighteen months. If the repositories fail to do so, they will be held liable for civil damages. By making expungement automatic in these cases, we can bring some much-needed relief to our state’s overburdened court system and also save our courts valuable time and money. Please join us in co-sponsoring this important legislation to bring improved efficiency to our criminal justice system and to better ensure due process for individuals in these cases. |
Introduced as HB909