I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3124 

To permit the expungement of records of certain marijuana-related offenses. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 21, 2015 

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

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To permit the expungement of records of certain marijuanarelated 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 ‘‘Clean Slate for Mari5 juana Offenses Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPUNGEMENT OF CRIMINAL RECORDS FOR CER7 TAIN MARIJUANA-RELATED OFFENSES. 

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 in limited circumstances. 

‘‘3632. Requirements for expungement. 

‘‘3633. Procedure for expungement. 

‘‘3634. Effect of expungement. 

‘‘3635. Disclosure of expunged records. 

2 ‘‘§ 3631. Expungement of certain criminal records in 

3 limited circumstances 

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

5 qualifying marijuana-related offense who fulfills the re6 quirements of section 3632 may, upon petition for 

7 expungement made in accordance with this subchapter, 

8 obtain an order granting expungement under this sub9 chapter. 

10 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF QUALIFYING MARIJUANA-RE11 LATED OFFENSE.—In this subchapter, the term ‘quali12 fying marijuana-related offense’ means an offense against 

13 the United States in which the conduct constituting the 

14 offense— 

15 ‘‘(1) was legal under the State law at the time 

16 of the offense; or 

17 ‘‘(2) was the possession of marijuana in a quan18 tity is not greater than one ounce. 

19 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF STATE.—In this subchapter, the 

20 term ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, Puerto 

21 Rico, and any other territory or possession of the United 

22 States. 


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1 ‘‘§ 3632. Requirements for expungement 

2 ‘‘No individual shall be eligible for an order of 

3 expungement under this subchapter unless, before filing 

4 a petition under this subchapter, such individual fulfills 

5 all requirements of the sentence for the conviction for 

6 which expungement is sought, including completion of any 

7 term of imprisonment or period of probation, meeting all 

8 conditions of a supervised release, and paying all fines. 

9 ‘‘§ 3633. Procedure for expungement 

10 ‘‘(a) PETITION.—An individual may file a petition for 

11 expungement of a conviction in the court in which the con12 viction was obtained. A copy of the petition shall be served 

13 by the court upon the United States Attorney for the judi14 cial district of that court. 

15 ‘‘(b) OPPORTUNITY FOR GOVERNMENT TO CONTEST

16 PETITION.—Not later than 60 days after the date a copy 

17 of a petition is served on the Government under subsection 

18 (a), the Government may, if the Government determines 

19 the facts do not support the petition, inform the court and 

20 the petitioner that the Government opposes granting 

21 expungement. If the Government does so inform the court 

22 and the petitioner, the court shall allow the Government 

23 and the petitioner an opportunity to present evidence and 

24 argument relating to the petition. 

25 ‘‘(c) COURT-ORDERED EXPUNGEMENT.—If, after the 

26 passage of the 60-day period described in subsection (a) 


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1 or earlier, if the Government informs the court it will not 

2 oppose granting expungement or if proceedings related to 

3 that opposition have been completed, the court determines 

4 the preponderance of the evidence before the court sup5 ports the granting of expungement under this subchapter, 

6 the court shall issue an order granting that expungement. 

7 If the court determines the petition is not supported by 

8 the preponderance of the evidence before the court, the 

9 court shall deny the petition. 

10 ‘‘§ 3634. Effect of expungement 

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

12 under this subchapter restores the individual concerned, 

13 in the contemplation of the law, to the status that indi14 vidual occupied before the arrest or the institution of 

15 criminal proceedings for the offense for which expunge16 ment is granted. 

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

18 an order under this subchapter granting expungement of 

19 an individual’s criminal records, that individual is not re20 quired to divulge information pertaining to the expunged 

21 conviction. The fact that such individual has been con22 victed of the criminal offense concerned shall not operate 

23 as a disqualification of that individual to pursue or engage 

24 in any lawful activity, occupation, or profession. Such indi25 vidual is not guilty of any perjury, false answering, or 


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1 making a false statement by reason of that individual’s 

2 failure to recite or acknowledge such arrest or institution 

3 of criminal proceedings, or results thereof, in response to 

4 an inquiry made of that individual for any purpose. 

5 ‘‘(c) RECORDS TO BE DESTROYED.—Except as pro6 vided in section 3635, upon order of expungement, all offi7 cial law enforcement and court records, including all ref8 erences to such person’s arrest for the offense, the institu9 tion of criminal proceedings against the individual, and 

10 the results thereof, except publicly available court opinions 

11 or briefs on appeal, shall be permanently destroyed. 

12 ‘‘§ 3635. Disclosure of expunged records 

13 ‘‘(a) INDEX TO ASSIST AUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE.— 

14 The Department of Justice shall maintain a nonpublic 

15 manual or computerized record of expungements under 

16 this subchapter containing only the name of, and alpha17 numeric identifiers selected by the Department of Justice 

18 that relate to, the persons who obtained expungement 

19 under this subchapter, and the order of expungement. 

20 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE TO INDIVIDUAL.— 

21 Information in the index shall be made available only to 

22 the individual to whose expungement it pertains or to such 

23 individual’s designated agent. 

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

25 Whoever knowingly discloses information relating to an 


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1 expunged conviction other than as authorized in this sub2 chapter shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not 

3 more than one year, or both.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sub5 chapters at the beginning of chapter 229 of title 18, 

6 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following item: 

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

8 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this Act apply to individuals convicted of an offense before, 

10 on, or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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