I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3156 

To provide for the expungement and sealing of youth criminal records, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2015 

Ms. JACKSON LEE (for herself, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. BASS, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CLAY, Ms. CLARKE

of New York, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. DANNY K. 

DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 

HAHN, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. LEE, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WILSON of 

Florida, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. PETERS, 

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. AL

GREEN of Texas, and Mr. CASTRO of Texas) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the expungement and sealing of youth 

criminal records, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Fair Chance for Youth 

5 Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. YOUTH SEALING AND EXPUNGEMENT. 

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

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER D—EXPUNGEMENT AND 

6 SEALING OF YOUTH CRIMINAL RECORDS 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘3631. Youth Offense Expungement and Sealing Review Board. 

‘‘3632. Expungement and sealing for youth. 

‘‘3633. Definitions. 

‘‘3634. Reporting. 

7 ‘‘§ 3631. Youth Offense Expungement and Sealing Re8 view Board 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Judge for each Fed10 eral District shall establish— 

11 ‘‘(1) a Youth Offense Expungement and Seal12 ing Review Board (hereinafter in this section re13 ferred to as the ‘Review Board’) to review petitions 

14 for discretionary expungement and sealing of youth 

15 offenses; and 

16 ‘‘(2) the rules and procedures governing the op17 eration of the Review Board in the exercise of its 

18 powers under subsection (c). 

19 ‘‘(b) COMPOSITION.—The Review Board shall include 

20 one representative, selected by the Chief Judge to serve 

21 without compensation, from each of the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) The Department of Justice. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The United States Probation and Pretrial 

2 Services System. 

3 ‘‘(3) The Office of the Federal Defender or a 

4 designated Criminal Justice Act panel attorney or 

5 private criminal defense attorney. 

6 ‘‘(c) POWERS.—The Review Board shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) review petitions under this subchapter to 

8 determine whether the youth, and the offense on 

9 which the petition is based, meet the eligibility re10 quirements for expungement or sealing consider11 ation; 

12 ‘‘(2) for petitions meeting the eligibility require13 ments, evaluate those petitions on the merits in 

14 order to make a recommendation on the advisability 

15 of granting the petition; and 

16 ‘‘(3) convey its recommendation, with a written 

17 explanation, to the Chief Judge in each Federal Dis18 trict, or a designee of the Chief Judge, for consider19 ation. 

20 ‘‘(d) RECOMMENDATION.—In making its rec21 ommendation, the Review Board— 

22 ‘‘(1) shall consider all the evidence and testi23 mony presented in the petition and any hearings 

24 held on the petition; 


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1 ‘‘(2) may not consider any arrest or prosecution 

2 that did not result in a conviction and that took 

3 place prior to the conviction or arrest the petitioner 

4 is seeking to expunge or seal; and 

5 ‘‘(3) shall balance— 

6 ‘‘(A) the public safety, the interest of pub7 lic knowledge, and any legitimate interest of the 

8 Government in maintaining the accessibility of 

9 the protected information; against 

10 ‘‘(B) the interest of the petitioner in hav11 ing the petition granted, including the benefit 

12 to the petition’s ability to positively contribute 

13 to the community, and the petitioner’s conduct 

14 and demonstrated desire to be rehabilitated. 

15 ‘‘(e) COURT TO CONSIDER AND DECIDE UPON PETI16 TIONS.—The Court shall consider and decide upon each 

17 petition for which the court receives a recommendation 

18 from the Review Board. The Court’s decision to grant or 

19 deny the petition shall give significant weight to the Re20 view Board recommendation. The Court shall grant the 

21 petition unless the Government shows the interests de22 scribed in subsection (d)(3)(A) outweigh the interests of 

23 the petitioner described in subsection (d)(3)(B). 

24 ‘‘(f) ONE OPPORTUNITY.—A youth may only file a 

25 petition for expungement or sealing under this subchapter 


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1 once and the decision of the district court on the petition 

2 shall be final and is not appealable. 

3 ‘‘(g) ONLINE FORMS FOR PETITIONS.—The Director 

4 of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts 

5 shall create and make available to the public, online and 

6 in paper form, a universal form to file a petition under 

7 this section, and establish a process under which indigent 

8 petitioners may obtain a waiver of any fee for filing a peti9 tion under this section. 

10 ‘‘(h) MAKING AVAILABLE STANDARD FORMS FOR

11 COURT ORDERS.—The Director of the Administrative Of12 fice of the United States Courts shall create and make 

13 available to the Chief Judge of every Federal district 

14 standard expungement and sealing orders that empower 

15 the petitioner to seek destruction of records in accordance 

16 with the order. 

17 ‘‘§ 3632. Expungement and sealing for youth 

18 ‘‘(a) EXPUNGEMENT PETITION ELIGIBILITY.—A 

19 youth may petition a district court of the United States 

20 for expungement— 

21 ‘‘(1) of the record of any misdemeanor or non22 violent felony drug conviction 3 years after the youth 

23 has completed every term of imprisonment related to 

24 that misdemeanor or nonviolent felony drug convic25 tion; 


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1 ‘‘(2) of the record of any person who has not 

2 attained the age of 18 at the time of committing the 

3 conduct resulting in conviction for any misdemeanor 

4 or nonviolent offense 3 years after the person has 

5 completed every term of imprisonment related to 

6 that misdemeanor or nonviolent offense conviction; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(3) of the record of an arrest or prosecution 

9 for any nonviolent offense on the date on which the 

10 case related to that arrest or prosecution is disposed 

11 of. 

12 ‘‘(b) SEALING PETITION ELIGIBILITY.—A youth may 

13 petition a district court of the United States, for sealing— 

14 ‘‘(1) of the record of any nonviolent conviction 

15 5 years after the youth has completed every term of 

16 imprisonment related to that nonviolent conviction; 

17 ‘‘(2) of the record of any person who has not 

18 attained the age of 18 at the time of committing the 

19 conduct resulting in conviction for any offense 10 

20 years after the person has completed every term of 

21 imprisonment related to that offense conviction; and 

22 ‘‘(3) of the record of an arrest or prosecution 

23 for any nonviolent offense on the date on which the 

24 case related to that arrest or prosecution is disposed 

25 of. 


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1 ‘‘(c) NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY TO FILE PETI2 TION.—A youth shall be informed of the eligibility to, pro3 cedures for, and benefits of filing an expungement or seal4 ing petition— 

5 ‘‘(1) by the District Court on the date of con6 viction; 

7 ‘‘(2) by the Office of Probation and Pretrial 

8 Services on the date the youth completes every term 

9 of imprisonment; or 

10 ‘‘(3) if the arrest or prosecution does not result 

11 in a conviction, then by the Department of Justice 

12 on the date the case is disposed of. 

13 ‘‘(d) GRANT OF PETITION.—If a court grants a peti14 tion under this section— 

15 ‘‘(1) the person to whom the record pertains 

16 may choose to, but is not required to, disclose the 

17 existence of the record, and the offense conduct and 

18 any arrest, juvenile delinquency proceeding, adju19 dication, conviction, or other result of such pro20 ceeding relating to the offense conduct, shall be 

21 treated as if it never occurred; 

22 ‘‘(2) the court shall destroy each paper and 

23 electronic copy of the record in the possession of the 

24 court; 


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1 ‘‘(3) the court shall issue an expungement or 

2 sealing order requiring the destruction of any paper 

3 and electronic copies of the record by any court, law 

4 enforcement officer, law enforcement agency, treat5 ment or rehabilitation services agency, or employee 

6 thereof in possession of those copies; 

7 ‘‘(4) any entity or person listed in paragraph 

8 (3) that receives an inquiry relating to the record 

9 shall reply to the inquiry stating that no such record 

10 exists; and 

11 ‘‘(5) except as provided in subsection (f), no 

12 person shall not be subject to prosecution under any 

13 civil or criminal provision of Federal or State law re14 lating to perjury, false swearing, or making a false 

15 statement for failing to acknowledge the record or 

16 respond to any inquiry made of the of petitioner or 

17 the parent relating to the record, for any purpose. 

18 ‘‘(e) CIVIL ACTIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an individual who has a 

20 record expunged or sealed under this section brings 

21 an action that might be defended with the contents 

22 of the record, there shall be a rebuttable presump23 tion that the defendant has a complete defense to 

24 the action. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SHOWING BY PLAINTIFF.—In an action 

2 described in paragraph (1), the plaintiff may rebut 

3 the presumption of a complete defense by showing 

4 that the contents of the record would not prevent 

5 the defendant from being liable. 

6 ‘‘(3) DUTY TO TESTIFY AS TO EXISTENCE OF

7 RECORD.—The court in which an action described in 

8 paragraph (1) is filed may require the plaintiff to 

9 state under oath whether the plaintiff had a record 

10 and whether the record was expunged or sealed. 

11 ‘‘(4) PROOF OF EXISTENCE OF RECORD.—If the 

12 plaintiff in an action described in paragraph (1) de13 nied the existence of a record, the defendant may 

14 prove the existence of the record in any manner 

15 compatible with the applicable laws of evidence. 

16 ‘‘(f) ATTORNEY GENERAL NONPUBLIC RECORDS.— 

17 The Attorney General shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) maintain a nonpublic database of all 

19 records expunged or sealed under this subchapter; 

20 ‘‘(2) disclose, access, or utilize records con21 tained in the nonpublic database only— 

22 ‘‘(A) in defense of any civil suit arising out 

23 of the facts contained in the record; 


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1 ‘‘(B) to determine whether the individual 

2 to whom the record relates is eligible for a first3 time-offender diversion program; 

4 ‘‘(C) for a background check that relates 

5 to law enforcement employment or any employ6 ment that requires a Government security clear7 ance; or 

8 ‘‘(D) if the Attorney General determines 

9 that disclosure is necessary to serve the inter10 ests of national security; and 

11 ‘‘(3) to the extent practicable, notify the indi12 vidual to whom the record pertains of the disclosure 

13 unless it is made pursuant to paragraph (2)(D). 

14 ‘‘§ 3633. Definitions 

15 ‘‘In this subchapter— 

16 ‘‘(1) the term ‘youth’ means an individual who 

17 was 21 years of age or younger at the time of the 

18 criminal offense for which the individual was ar19 rested, prosecuted, or sentenced; 

20 ‘‘(2) the term ‘nonviolent felony’ means a Fed21 eral criminal felony offense that is not— 

22 ‘‘(A) a crime of violence; or 

23 ‘‘(B) a sex offense (as that term is defined 

24 in section 111 of the Sex Offender Registration 

25 and Notification Act); 


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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘record’ means information, 

2 whether in paper or electronic form, containing any 

3 reference to— 

4 ‘‘(A) an arrest, conviction, or sentence of 

5 an individual for an offense; 

6 ‘‘(B) the institution of juvenile delinquency 

7 or criminal proceedings against an individual 

8 for the offense; or 

9 ‘‘(C) adjudication, conviction, or any other 

10 result of juvenile delinquency or criminal pro11 ceedings; 

12 ‘‘(4) the term ‘expunge’— 

13 ‘‘(A) means to destroy a record and oblit14 erate the name of the person to whom the 

15 record pertains from each official index or pub16 lic record; and 

17 ‘‘(B) has the effect described in section 

18 3631(g), including— 

19 ‘‘(i) the right to treat an offense to 

20 which an expunged record relates, and any 

21 arrest, juvenile delinquency proceeding, ad22 judication, conviction, or other result of 

23 such proceeding relating to the offense, as 

24 if it never occurred; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) protection from civil and criminal 

2 perjury, false swearing, and false state3 ment laws with respect to an expunged 

4 record; 

5 ‘‘(5) the term ‘seal’— 

6 ‘‘(A) means— 

7 ‘‘(i) to close a record from public 

8 viewing so that the record cannot be exam9 ined except by court order; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) to physically seal the record shut 

11 and label the record ‘SEALED’ or, in the 

12 case of an electronic record, the sub13 stantive equivalent; and 

14 ‘‘(B) has the effect described in section 

15 3631(g), including— 

16 ‘‘(i) the right to treat an offense to 

17 which an expunged record relates, and any 

18 arrest, juvenile delinquency proceeding, ad19 judication, conviction, or other result of 

20 such proceeding relating to the offense, as 

21 if it never occurred; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) protection from civil and criminal 

23 perjury, false swearing, and false state24 ment laws with respect to an expunged 

25 record; 


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1 ‘‘(6) the term ‘conviction’— 

2 ‘‘(A) means a judgment or disposition in 

3 criminal court against a person following a find4 ing of guilt by a judge or jury; and 

5 ‘‘(B) for the purposes of this section— 

6 ‘‘(i) multiple convictions shall be 

7 deemed to be one conviction if the convic8 tions result from or relate to the same act 

9 or acts committed at the same time; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) multiple convictions, not to ex11 ceed 3, that do not result from or relate to 

12 the same act or acts committed at the 

13 same time shall be deemed to be one con14 viction if the convictions result from or re15 late to the same indictment, information, 

16 or complaint, or plea of guilty; and 

17 ‘‘(7) the term ‘destroy’ means to render a file 

18 unreadable, whether paper, electronic, or otherwise 

19 stored, by shredding, pulverizing, pulping, incin20 erating, overwriting, reformatting the media, or 

21 other means. 

22 ‘‘§ 3634. Reporting 

23 ‘‘Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

24 of this subchapter, and each year thereafter, the Attorney 

25 General shall issue a public report that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) describes— 

2 ‘‘(A) the number of expungement and seal3 ing petitions granted and denied; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the number of instances in which the 

5 office of a United States attorney supported or 

6 opposed an expungement or sealing petition; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(2) includes any supporting data that the 

9 court determines relevant but does not name any pe10 titioner.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. RETROACTIVE EFFECT. 

12 This Act and the amendments made by this Act apply 

13 with respect to youth without regard to whether they be14 come involved in the Federal criminal justice system be15 fore, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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