PRINTER'S NO. 3422
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2294
Session of
2018
INTRODUCED BY ROEBUCK, DONATUCCI, FRANKEL, DEAN, ROTHMAN,
KINSEY, SCHLOSSBERG, V. BROWN, RABB, J. HARRIS, SIMS, THOMAS,
PASHINSKI, PHILLIPS-HILL, MURT, DAVIDSON, SCHWEYER, ROZZI,
RYAN, A. DAVIS, GAINEY, McCARTER, J. McNEILL, KORTZ, STURLA,
FREEMAN, D. COSTA AND READSHAW, APRIL 23, 2018
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, APRIL 23, 2018
AN ACT
Amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes, in criminal history record
information, further providing for definitions and for
expungement.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The definitions of "criminal justice agency" and
"expunge" in section 9102 of Title 18 of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes are amended and the section is amended by
adding a definition to read:
ยง 9102. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this chapter
shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
* * *
"Criminal justice agency." Any court, including the minor
judiciary, with criminal jurisdiction or any other governmental
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agency, or subunit thereof, created by statute or by the State
or Federal constitutions, specifically authorized to perform as
its principal function the administration of criminal justice,
and which allocates a substantial portion of its annual budget
to such function. Criminal justice agencies include, but are not
limited to: organized State and municipal police departments,
local detention facilities, county, regional and State
correctional facilities, probation agencies, district or
prosecuting attorneys, parole boards, pardon boards, the
facilities and administrative offices of the Department of
[Public Welfare] Human Services that provide care, guidance and
control to adjudicated delinquents, and such agencies or
subunits thereof, as are declared by the Attorney General to be
criminal justice agencies as determined by a review of
applicable statutes and the State and Federal Constitutions or
both.
* * *
"Exoneration." Whenever:
(1) a pardon is granted pursuant to section 9 of Article
IV of the Constitution of Pennsylvania; or
(2) a judgment of conviction is reversed or vacated, or
a plea of guilty, no contest or nolo contendere is withdrawn
by leave of court, and the indictment or information is
dismissed or, if a new trial is ordered, either the claimant
is found not guilty at the new trial or is not retried and
the indictment or information dismissed, provided that the
count or counts dismissed are the sole basis for the
imprisonment, and regardless of whether or not
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) evidence forms the basis of the
reversal, vacation, withdrawal, dismissal or pardon.
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"Expunge."
(1) [To] to remove information so that there is no trace
or indication that such information existed;
(2) to eliminate all identifiers which may be used to
trace the identity of an individual, allowing remaining data
to be used for statistical purposes; [or]
(3) maintenance of certain information required or
authorized under the provisions of section 9122(c) (relating
to expungement), when an individual has successfully
completed the conditions of any pretrial or posttrial
diversion or probation program[.]; or
(4) the removal, destruction or erasure of records
possessed by the Commonwealth or any of its political
subdivisions, including, but not limited to:
(i) Fingerprints.
(ii) Photographs.
(iii) Photographic plates.
(iv) Criminal history record information data for
the criminal proceedings of which the individual has been
exonerated.
* * *
Section 2. Section 9122(a) and (b) of Title 18 are amended
and the section is amended by adding a subsection to read:
ยง 9122. Expungement.
(a) Specific proceedings.--[Criminal] Notwithstanding any
provision of law to the contrary, criminal history record
information shall be expunged in a specific criminal proceeding
when:
(1) no disposition has been received or, upon request
for criminal history record information, no disposition has
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been recorded in the repository within 18 months after the
date of arrest and the court of proper jurisdiction certifies
to the director of the repository that no disposition is
available and no action is pending. Expungement shall not
occur until the certification from the court is received and
the director of the repository authorizes such expungement;
(2) a court order requires that such nonconviction data
be expunged; [or]
(3) a person 21 years of age or older who has been
convicted of a violation of section 6308 (relating to
purchase, consumption, possession or transportation of liquor
or malt or brewed beverages), which occurred on or after the
day the person attained 18 years of age, petitions the court
of common pleas in the county where the conviction occurred
seeking expungement and the person has satisfied all terms
and conditions of the sentence imposed for the violation,
including any suspension of operating privileges imposed
pursuant to section 6310.4 (relating to restriction of
operating privileges). Upon review of the petition, the court
shall order the expungement of all criminal history record
information and all administrative records of the Department
of Transportation relating to said conviction[.]; or
(4) a person 18 years of age or older who has been
convicted of a crime, which crime is later exonerated,
petitions the court of common pleas having jurisdiction over
the conviction seeking expungement. Upon review of the
petition, the court may order the expungement of all criminal
history record information and all administrative records
relating to said conviction. Expungement under this paragraph
shall not include a violation under section 6308.
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(b) Generally.--[Criminal] Notwithstanding any provision of
law to the contrary, criminal history record information may be
expunged when:
(1) An individual who is the subject of the information
reaches 70 years of age and has been free of arrest or
prosecution for ten years following final release from
confinement or supervision.
(2) An individual who is the subject of the information
has been dead for three years.
(3) (i) An individual who is the subject of the
information petitions the court for the expungement of a
summary offense and has been free of arrest or
prosecution for five years following the conviction for
that offense.
(ii) Expungement under this paragraph shall only be
permitted for a conviction of a summary offense.
(4) An individual with a conviction that i s the subject
of the information, which conviction has been exonerated.
* * *
(b.2) Expungement fee waiver.--
(1) The following shall be grounds for waiver of costs
to petition the court for an expungement when occurring as a
result of the presentation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
evidence:
(i) Reversal or vacation of a conviction.
(ii) Withdrawal of a guilty, no contest or nolo
contendere plea.
(iii) Dismissal of information or indictment.
(iv) Retrial where the defendant is found not
guilty.
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(2) The county of the court having jurisdiction over the
matter shall bear the costs for all fees related to a
petitioner's expungment proceeding under this subsection.
* * *
Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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