Senate Bill No. 163
(By Senators Wooton, Ball, Dittmar, Hunter, Kessler, Minard,
Mitchell, Ross, Schoonover, Snyder and McKenzie)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported January 19, 1999.]
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A BILL to amend article six, chapter sixty-two of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated section six-a,
relating to authorizing expungement by circuit courts of
criminal records when the charges are dismissed or the
defendant is acquitted.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article six, chapter sixty-two of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section six-a,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS CONCERNING CRIMINAL
PROCEDURES.
§62-6-6a. Expungement of certain records.
(a) Any person who has been named as a defendant in a criminal
matter brought by the state of West Virginia and who has been
acquitted of such charge, or where a final order of dismissal has
been entered without an adjudication of guilt against said person,
may petition the circuit court of the county where the charge was
brought for an order expunging from all official records any
reference to said prosecution. Any person filing a petition
pursuant to the provisions of this section shall serve a copy of
the petition upon the office of the prosecuting attorney for the
county in which the prosecution was brought. A certificate of
service shall accompany the petition reflecting such notice to the
prosecuting attorney.
(b) The circuit court shall enter an order directing
expungement from all official recordation of any reference to the
arrest, charged prosecution or trial of any petitioner seeking
relief pursuant to subsection (a) of this section upon receiving
satisfactory proof that the facts contained in the petition are
true. The order of expungement shall direct that any recordation
of the prosecution be removed from all official records and direct
that a certified copy of the order be supplied to any municipal police department involved in the prosecution, the sheriff of the
county of prosecution and the West Virginia state police directing
that any official recordation attendant to the prosecution be
expunged from the public record. An order of expungement shall
also contain a request to federal authorities to expunge their
records.
(c) Any petition filed pursuant to the provisions of this
section shall constitute a civil action not subject to appointment
of court-appointed counsel.
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(Note: The purpose of this bill is to authorize a circuit
court to order expungement of official records regarding criminal
prosecutions where the defendant was found not guilty or the charge
is dismissed.
§62-6-6a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.)