H. B. 4552
(By Delegate Webb)
[Introduced February 15, 2000; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
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 eight,
relating to allowing for the expungement of arrest records in
cases where the charge against the person for which the
warrant for arrest was issued was dismissed due to failure to
prosecute.
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 eight,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS CONCERNING CRIMINAL
PROCEDURES.
§62-6-8. Expungement of certain arrest records.
Upon application to the magistrate court or circuit court from
which a warrant for arrest was issued, a magistrate or judge shall
issue an order to expunge from all official records all evidence of
a person's arrest if the person:
(1) Requests the expungement for any instance where a warrant
for the arrest of a person was issued solely upon the complaint of
a private citizen and the charge against the person for which the
warrant was issued was dismissed due to failure to prosecute; or
(2) If the person establishes good cause for the expungement,
in any instance where a warrant for the arrest of the person was
issued at the request of a prosecuting attorney or a
law-enforcement officer and the charge against the person for which
the warrant was issued was dismissed due to failure to prosecute.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow for the expungement
of arrest records in cases where the charge against the person for
which the warrant for arrest was issued was dismissed due to
failure to prosecute.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.