AB 709

Under current law, if a person is found guilty of a misdemeanor or a nonviolent

Class H or Class I felony that he or she commits before age 25, the sentencing court

may order that the record of conviction be expunged when he or she completes his

or her sentence. The court must find that expungement would benefit the person and

not harm society and the person may not commit another crime or have his or her

probation revoked in order to be eligible for expungement. If the person successfully

completes the sentence in such a case, the Department of Corrections or the county

jail or house of correction must issue a certificate stating that the person successfully

completed the sentence. The expungement takes effect immediately upon the

issuance of that certificate.

This bill makes expungement available for all persons who were convicted of

a misdemeanor with a maximum jail sentence of one year, regardless of their age at

the time of their offenses, unless the misdemeanor conviction was the result of a plea

agreement for certain felony charges. In addition, upon the expungement of a

person's conviction, he or she can no longer be affected by any prohibition,

disqualification, disability, increased penalty, or other adverse or unfavorable

treatment that results from a misdemeanor conviction, including any adverse

consequences that might result from a court's consideration of the expunged offense

in any subsequent case. Moreover, neither the existence nor the contents of court

records relating to the expunged offense may be disclosed to anyone other than the

person or his or her attorney. The bill also permits a court to enter an order

authorizing expungement at any time during or after the sentence. The bill,

however, specifies that expungement may not occur within the first two years after

the person's misdemeanor conviction and that, in general, a person is eligible for

expungement only once in his or her lifetime.