I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5433

To permit expungement of records of certain nonviolent criminal offenses.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 10, 2000

Mr. RANGEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To permit expungement of records of certain nonviolent

criminal offenses.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Second Chance for Ex5 Offenders Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. EXPUNGEMENT OF CRIMINAL RECORDS FOR CER7 TAIN NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 229 of title 18, United

9 States Code, is amended by inserting after subchapter C

10 the following new subchapter:
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1 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER D—EXPUNGEMENT

‘‘Sec.

‘‘3631. Expungement of certain criminal records.

‘‘3632. Requirements for expungement.

‘‘3633. Procedure for expungement.

‘‘3634. Effect of expungement.

‘‘3635. Reversal of expunged records.

‘‘3636. Unsealing of records.

2 ‘‘§ 3631. Expungement of certain criminal records

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any individual convicted of a

4 nonviolent criminal offense in a United States court who

5 fulfills the requirements of section 3632 may file a petition

6 under this subchapter to expunge the record of such con7 viction.

8 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF NONVIOLENT CRIMINAL OF9 FENSE.—In this subchapter, the term ‘nonviolent criminal

10 offense’ means a misdemeanor or felony that does not have

11 as an element of the offense the use of a weapon or vio12 lence in its commission and which did not actually involve

13 violence in its commission.

14 ‘‘§ 3632. Requirements for expungement

15 ‘‘No individual shall be eligible for expungement

16 under this subchapter unless, prior to filing a petition

17 under this subchapter, such individual—

18 ‘‘(1) has never been convicted of a violent mis19 demeanor or felony;

20 ‘‘(2) has remained free from dependency on or

21 abuse of alcohol or a controlled substance for at

22 least one year;
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1 ‘‘(3) has obtained a high school diploma or

2 completed a high school equivalency program; and

3 ‘‘(4) has completed at least one year of commu4 nity service, as determined by the court referred to

5 in section 3633(a).

6 ‘‘§ 3633. Procedure for expungement

7 ‘‘(a) PETITION.—An individual meeting the require8 ments of section 3632 may file a petition under this sub9 chapter with the Attorney General to expunge the record

10 of a conviction for a nonviolent criminal offense. Not later

11 than 60 days after receipt of such a petition, the Attorney

12 General shall submit such petition with a recommendation

13 regarding expungement to the United States district court

14 for the district in which the conviction was obtained. The

15 Attorney General shall notify the petitioner of his rec16 ommendation within such 60-day period. If the Attorney

17 General recommends expungement, the court shall grant

18 an order expunging the records that are the subject to

19 the petition.

20 ‘‘(b) APPEAL.—If the Attorney General does not rec21 ommend expungement of the records, the petitioner may,

22 not later than 90 days after receiving notification from

23 the Attorney General of such recommendation, appeal

24 such denial in the United States district court for the dis25 trict in which the conviction was obtained.
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1 ‘‘§ 3634. Effect of expungement

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An order granting expungement

3 under this subchapter shall restore the individual con4 cerned, in the contemplation of the law, to the status such

5 individual occupied before the arrest or institution of

6 criminal proceedings for the crime that was the subject

7 of the expungement.

8 ‘‘(b) NO DISQUALIFICATION; STATEMENTS.—After

9 an order granting expungement of any individual’s crimi10 nal records under this subchapter, such individual shall

11 not be required to divulge information pertaining to the

12 expunged conviction and the fact that such individual has

13 been convicted of the criminal offense concerned shall

14 not—

15 ‘‘(1) operate as a disqualification of such indi16 vidual to pursue or engage in any lawful activity, oc17 cupation, profession, and

18 ‘‘(2) held under any provision of law guilty of

19 perjury, false answering, or making a false state20 ment by reason of his failure to recite or acknowl21 edge such arrest or institution of criminal pro22 ceedings, or results thereof, in response to an in23 quiry made of him for any purpose.

24 ‘‘(c) RECORDS EXPUNGED OR SEALED.—Upon order

25 of expungement, all official law enforcement and court

26 records, including all references to such person’s arrest for
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1 the offense, the institution of criminal proceedings against

2 him, and the results thereof, except publicly available

3 court opinions or briefs on appeal, shall be expunged (in

4 the case of nontangible records) or gathered together and

5 sealed (in the case of tangible records).

6 ‘‘(d) RECORD OF DISPOSITION TO BE RETAINED.—

7 A nonpublic record of a disposition or conviction that is

8 the subject of an expungement order shall be retained only

9 by the Department of Justice solely for the purpose of use

10 by the courts in any subsequent adjudication.

11 ‘‘§ 3635. Disclosure of expunged records

12 ‘‘(a) LAW ENFORCEMENT PURPOSES.—The Depart13 ment of Justice may release the record of an individual’s

14 criminal conviction expunged under this subchapter to

15 Federal or State law enforcement agencies and United

16 States attorneys and district attorneys—

17 ‘‘(1) for the purpose of prosecuting such indi18 vidual for any subsequent criminal offense and adju19 dicating such case; or

20 ‘‘(2) if such individual has made an application

21 for employment as a law enforcement officer, if such

22 individual is given notice of the disclosure and an

23 opportunity to explain the conviction.

24 ‘‘(b) PUNISHMENT FOR IMPROPER DISCLOSURE.—

25 Except as provided in subsection (a), whoever knowingly
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1 disseminates information relating to an expunged convic2 tion, other than the individual whose conviction was ex3 punged, or to such individual, shall be punished by impris4 onment for not less than one year and a fine of not more

5 than $10,000 for each offense.

6 ‘‘§ 3636. Reversal of expunged records

7 ‘‘The records expunged under this subchapter shall

8 be restored by operation of law as public records and may

9 be used in all court proceedings if the individual whose

10 conviction was expunged is subsequently convicted of any

11 misdemeanor or felony in any court of the United States.’’.

12 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

13 chapter 229 of title 18, United States Code, is amended

14 by adding at the end the following item:

‘‘D. Expungement ........................................................................ 3631’’.

15 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

16 this Act shall apply to individuals convicted of an applica17 ble crime at any time before or after the date of enactment

18 of this Act.

Æ