COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 706
(By Senator Kessler)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 21, 2007.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §61-11-26, relating
to the limited expungement of certain criminal records.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-11-26 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11. GENERAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING CRIMES.
§61-11-26. Expungement of certain criminal convictions; procedure;
effect.
(a) Notwithstanding any provisions of this code to the
contrary, a person previously convicted of a misdemeanor offense
which is not a crime of violence against the person or is a status
offense which occurred while the person was eighteen years of age
but less than twenty-six years of age may petition the circuit
court in which the conviction occurred for expungement of the
conviction and the associated records. The person may make a
motion in the circuit court of the county of conviction to expunge
all records relating to the arrest, charge or other matters arising out of the arrest or charge. The term "records" as used in this
section includes, but is not limited to, arrest records,
fingerprints, photographs, index references or other data, whether
in documentary or electronic form, relating to the arrest, charge
or other matters arising out of the arrest or charge.
(b) Following the filing of the petition, the court may set a
date for a hearing. If the court does so, it shall notify the
prosecuting attorney and the arresting agency of the motion and
provide an opportunity for a response to the expungement motion.
(c) If the court finds that there are no current charges or
proceedings pending relating to the matter for which the
expungement is sought and that the petitioner has not been
convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving violence to the
person of another or any sexual offense involving a minor, the
court may grant the motion and order the sealing of all records in
the custody of the court and expungement of any records in the
custody of any other agency or official including law-enforcement
records. Every agency with records relating to the arrest, charge
or other matters arising out of the arrest or charge, that is
ordered to expunge records, shall certify to the court within sixty
days of the entry of the expungement order that the required
expungement has been completed. All orders enforcing the
expungement procedure shall also be sealed.
(d) Upon expungement, the proceedings in the matter shall be
deemed never to have occurred. The court and other agencies shall
reply to any inquiry that no record exists on the matter. The
person whose record is expunged shall not have to disclose the fact
of the record or any matter relating thereto on an application for employment, credit or other type of application.
(e) Inspection of the sealed records in the court's possession
may thereafter be permitted by the court only upon a motion by the
person who is the subject of the records or upon a petition filed
by a prosecuting attorney that inspection and possible use of the
records in question are necessary to the investigation or
prosecution of a crime in this state or another jurisdiction. If
the court finds that the interests of justice will be served by
granting the petition, it may be granted.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the limited
expungement of certain criminal records for a nonviolent crime
committed by a person between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.