Bill Caption

Relating to the automatic expunction of arrest records and files for certain veterans and the waiver of fees and costs charged for the expunction.

Fiscal Notes

From the Legislative Budget Board: no significant fiscal implication to the state is anticipated.

Bill Analysis

HB 322 would add to the Code of Criminal Procedure that a person who has been placed under arrest for a felony or misdemeanor is entitled to have all records and files expunged if the person has completed a veteran’s treatment court program. A court would not be able to charge a fee for an order of expunction if the person has completed a veteran’s treatment court program.

A person would not be eligible for expunction of arrest records and files if the person has previously received an expunction of arrest records.

Vote Recommendation Notes

Expunction of records allows people to move on with their lives after an interaction with the criminal justice system. In our modern era when criminal history information is readily available and background checks are used for many forms of employment including licensed and and unlicensed professions and public and private sector employment, the mere presence of a criminal history can have an out-sized impact on a person's future making even minor infractions have consequences that far outweigh the actual offense. For this reason we support liberty enhancing and government limiting legislation making expunction easier to achieve.