Act No. 131 (S.37). Crimes and criminal procedures

An act relating to expungement and sealing of criminal history records

This act establishes a process that permits a person convicted of certain minor offenses to petition the court to have his or her criminal history records expunged or sealed. The court must grant an expungement petition if: (1) at least 10 years have passed since the person completed the terms and conditions of his or her sentence, or the person has successful completed the terms and conditions of an indeterminate term of probation that began 10 years prior; (2) the person has not been convicted of a new crime since the qualifying crime conviction; (3) any restitution has been paid; and (4) the court finds that expungement serves the interest of justice. An expungement petition must also be granted if: (1) at least 20 years have passed since the person successfully completed the terms and conditions of the sentence for the conviction; (2) the person has not been convicted of a felony since the qualifying crime conviction; (3) the person has not been convicted of a misdemeanor during the past 15 years; (4) any restitution has been paid; and (5) the court finds that expungement serves the interest of justice. If the person committed the qualifying crime after reaching the age of 19, the court may seal the record if it finds that sealing better serves the interest of justice than expungement.

Under certain circumstances, the act also permits a person to petition the court to expunge a criminal history record if no conviction was obtained. The court must grant such a petition if it finds that expungement serves the interest of justice and one of the following conditions is met: (1) no criminal charge was filed by the state and the statute of limitations has expired; (2) the court did not make a determination of probable cause at the time of arraignment or dismissed the charge at the time of arraignment and the statute of limitations has expired; (3) the charge was dismissed before trial with prejudice or was dismissed without prejudice and the statute of limitations has expired; or (4) the parties stipulate to expungement or sealing. As in cases where a conviction was obtained, the court may seal the record if it finds that sealing better serves the interest of justice than expungement and the person committed the qualifying crime after reaching the age of 19.

The act provides that a person whose record is expunged or sealed shall be treated as if he or she had never been arrested, convicted, or sentenced for the offense. In any application for employment, license, civil right, or privilege, or in an appearance as a witness in any proceeding, the person may only be required to answer questions about arrests or convictions that have not been expunged or sealed. The act permits the court to maintain a confidential special index containing the name of the person, his or her birthday, the docket number, and the criminal offense that was the subject of the expungement. The court may permit access to the special index if it finds that inspection is necessary to serve the interest of justice, and the administrative judge may permit access to it for research purposes. All other documents subject to the expungement order must be destroyed and any inquiry into the expunged record must be met with the response "NO RECORD EXISTS." Sealed records must be flagged as "SEALED" and any inquiry about the sealed record must be met with the response "NO RECORD EXISTS." However, a sealed record may continue to be used for any litigation or claim related to the incident involving the same defendant, and sealed records may also be used in future criminal investigations or prosecutions under certain circumstances.

Effective Date: July 1, 2012