I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6667 

To permit expungement of records of certain nonviolent criminal offenses, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2022 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. CARSON, and Ms. 

NORTON) 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, 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 ‘‘Fresh Start Act of 

5 2022’’. 

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 D 

10 the following new subchapter: 


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1 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER E—EXPUNGEMENT 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘3641. Expungement of certain criminal records in limited circumstances. 

‘‘3642. Requirements for expungement. 

‘‘3643. Procedure for expungement. 

‘‘3644. Effect of expungement. 

‘‘3645. Disclosure of expunged records. 

2 ‘‘§ 3641. Expungement of certain criminal records in 

3 limited circumstances 

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

5 of a nonviolent offense may file a petition under this sub6 chapter for expungement with regard to that nonviolent 

7 offense. 

8 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF NONVIOLENT OFFENSE.—In 

9 this subchapter, the term ‘nonviolent offense’ means any 

10 offense under this title or under the Controlled Substances 

11 Act (8 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) that is not a crime of violence. 

12 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF CRIME OF VIOLENCE.—In this 

13 subchapter, the term ‘crime of violence’ means an offense, 

14 punishable by one year or more in the prison, that— 

15 ‘‘(1) has as an element the use, attempted use, 

16 or threatened use of physical force against the per17 son or property of another; 

18 ‘‘(2) involves the unlawful possession, sale, 

19 transfer, or use of a firearm, explosive, or other 

20 deadly weapon, or the attempt thereof; or 


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1 ‘‘(3) causes the petitioner to be required to reg2 ister under the Sex Offender Registration and Noti3 fication Act (34 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.). 

4 ‘‘§ 3642. Requirements for expungement 

5 ‘‘An individual is eligible for expungement under this 

6 subchapter if that individual— 

7 ‘‘(1) at the time of filing, had never been con8 victed of any criminal offense other than nonviolent 

9 offenses committed in a single criminal episode that 

10 includes the offense for which expungement is 

11 sought; and 

12 ‘‘(2) has fulfilled the requirements of the sen13 tence of the court in which the individual was con14 victed of that nonviolent offense, including— 

15 ‘‘(A) paying, or consistently fulfilling obli16 gations of a payment plan for, all applicable 

17 fines, restitutions, or assessments; 

18 ‘‘(B) completion of any term of imprison19 ment or period of probation; 

20 ‘‘(C) meeting all conditions of supervised 

21 release; and 

22 ‘‘(D) if so required by the terms of the 

23 sentence, remaining free from dependency on or 

24 abuse of alcohol or a controlled substance for a 

25 period of not less than 1 year. 


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1 If extenuating circumstances prevent an individual from 

2 fulfilling the requirements of the sentence, as required 

3 under paragraph (2), the court, in its discretion, may 

4 waive a portion of such requirement. 

5 ‘‘§ 3643. Procedure for expungement 

6 ‘‘(a) PETITION.—A petition for expungement may be 

7 filed only in the court in which the petitioner was con8 victed of the nonviolent offense for which expungement is 

9 sought. The clerk of the court shall serve that petition on 

10 the United States Attorney for that district. Except as 

11 provided under subsection (e), not later than 60 days after 

12 service of such petition, the United States Attorney may 

13 submit recommendations to the court and provide a copy 

14 of those recommendations to the petitioner. 

15 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL.—The court shall 

16 appoint counsel upon the request of an indigent petitioner 

17 to represent the petitioner in proceedings under this sub18 chapter, including the preparation of a petition or subse19 quent petition under this section. 

20 ‘‘(c) SUBMISSION OF EVIDENCE.—The petitioner and 

21 the Government may file with the court evidence relating 

22 to the petition. 

23 ‘‘(d) BASIS FOR DECISION.—In making a decision on 

24 the petition, the court shall consider all evidence and 


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1 weigh the interests of the petitioner, the best interests of 

2 justice, and public safety. 

3 ‘‘(e) SUBSEQUENT PETITION.—If the court denies 

4 the petition, the petitioner may not file another such peti5 tion until the date that is 2 years after the date of such 

6 denial. 

7 ‘‘(f) MANDATORY GRANT OF PETITION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), the court shall grant the petition of an 

10 eligible petitioner who files the petition on a date 

11 that is not earlier than the date that is 7 years after 

12 the date on which the petitioner has fulfilled the re13 quirements of the sentence, as described in section 

14 3642(2). The United States Attorney may not sub15 mit recommendations under subsection (a) with re16 gard to that petition. 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The court shall not grant 

18 under this subsection the petition of a petitioner who 

19 has committed any offense under this title that 

20 caused a victim or victims to sustain a loss of 

21 $25,000 or more. 

22 ‘‘(g) DISCRETIONARY GRANT OF PETITION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para24 graph (2), the court shall grant the petition of an 

25 eligible petitioner who files the petition on a date 


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1 that is not earlier than the date that is 1 year after 

2 the date on which the petitioner has fulfilled the re3 quirements of the sentence, as described in section 

4 3642(2). 

5 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The court shall not grant 

6 under this subsection the petition of a petitioner who 

7 has committed any offense under this title that 

8 caused a victim or victims to sustain a loss of 

9 $250,000 or more. 

10 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION OF EXPUNGEMENT.—Not 

11 later than 7 days after granting an expungement pe12 tition, in order to facilitate the timely update of rel13 evant records, the court shall send a copy of the pe14 tition and final order to— 

15 ‘‘(A) the Attorney General of the United 

16 States; 

17 ‘‘(B) the chief law enforcement officer of 

18 the State in which the crime was committed; 

19 ‘‘(C) the chief law enforcement officer of 

20 the State in which the petitioner resides; 

21 ‘‘(D) any local law enforcement agency 

22 that serves the jurisdiction in which the crime 

23 was committed; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) any local law enforcement agency 

2 that serves the jurisdiction in which petitioner 

3 resides. 

4 ‘‘§ 3644. Effect of expungement 

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

6 under this subchapter shall restore the individual con7 cerned, in the contemplation of the law, to the status such 

8 individual occupied before the arrest or institution of 

9 criminal proceedings for the nonviolent offense that was 

10 the subject of the expungement. 

11 ‘‘(b) SENTENCING.—In determining an appropriate 

12 sentence for unrelated subsequent criminal conduct, a 

13 court of the United States shall not consider an expunged 

14 criminal conviction for the purposes of determining the ap15 propriate sentencing range pursuant to the United States 

16 Sentencing Guidelines, or to sentence a person outside of 

17 that sentencing range. 

18 ‘‘(c) NO DISQUALIFICATION; STATEMENTS.—An in19 dividual whose petition under this subchapter is granted 

20 shall not be required to divulge information pertaining to 

21 the nonviolent offense with regard to which expungement 

22 was granted, nor shall such individual be held under any 

23 provision of law guilty of perjury, false answering, or mak24 ing a false statement by reason of the failure of the indi25 vidual to recite or acknowledge such arrest or institution 


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

2 an inquiry made of the individual for any purpose. The 

3 fact that such individual has been convicted of the non4 violent offense concerned shall not operate as a disquali5 fication of such individual to pursue or engage in any law6 ful activity, occupation, or profession. 

7 ‘‘(d) RECORDS EXPUNGED.—Except as provided 

8 under section 3645, on the grant of a petition under this 

9 subchapter, the following shall be expunged: 

10 ‘‘(1) Any official record relating to the arrest of 

11 the petitioner, the institution of criminal proceedings 

12 against the petitioner, or the results thereof (includ13 ing conviction) for the nonviolent offense with regard 

14 to which expungement is sought. 

15 ‘‘(2) Any reference in any official record to the 

16 arrest of the petitioner, the institution of criminal 

17 proceedings against the petitioner, or the results 

18 thereof (including conviction) for the nonviolent of19 fense with regard to which expungement is sought. 

20 ‘‘(e) EXCEPTIONS.—The Attorney General may make 

21 rules providing for exceptions to subsection (d) as the At22 torney General determines necessary to serve the interests 

23 of justice and public safety. 


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1 ‘‘§ 3645. Disclosure of expunged records 

2 ‘‘(a) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RECORDS.—The At3 torney General shall retain an unaltered nonpublic copy 

4 of— 

5 ‘‘(1) any record that is expunged; and 

6 ‘‘(2) any record containing a reference that is 

7 expunged. 

8 ‘‘(b) LAW ENFORCEMENT PURPOSES.—The Attorney 

9 General shall maintain a nonpublic index of the records 

10 described under subsection (a) containing, for each such 

11 record, only the name of, and alphanumeric identifiers 

12 that relate to, the individual who is the subject of such 

13 record, the word ‘expunged’, and the name of the person, 

14 agency, office, or department that has custody of the ex15 punged record, and shall not name the offense committed. 

16 The index shall be made available only to an entity to 

17 which records may be made available under subsection (d) 

18 or to any Federal or State law enforcement agency that 

19 has custody of such records. 

20 ‘‘(c) COURT RECORDS.—The court shall retain an 

21 unaltered nonpublic copy of— 

22 ‘‘(1) any record that is expunged; and 

23 ‘‘(2) any record containing a reference that is 

24 expunged. 

25 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZED DISCLOSURES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), any record described in subsection (a) 

3 pertaining to an individual may be made available 

4 only— 

5 ‘‘(A) to the petitioner; 

6 ‘‘(B) to a Federal or State court or Fed7 eral, State, or local law enforcement agency, in 

8 the case of a criminal investigation or prosecu9 tion of an individual or in conducting a back10 ground check on an individual who has applied 

11 for employment by such court or agency; or 

12 ‘‘(C) to a Federal or State court or Fed13 eral, State, or local law enforcement agency for 

14 the exclusive purpose of maintaining accurate 

15 official records. 

16 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE TO INDIVID17 UALS.—On application of the petitioner, the record 

18 may be available to an individual identified in the 

19 petitioner’s application. 

20 ‘‘(e) PUNISHMENT FOR IMPROPER DISCLOSURE.— 

21 Whoever intentionally makes or attempts to make a disclo22 sure, other than a disclosure authorized under subsection 

23 (d), of any record or reference that is expunged under this 

24 subchapter, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned 

25 not more than one year, or both.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sub2 chapters at the beginning of chapter 229 of title 18, 

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

4 following item: 

‘‘E. Expungement .............................................................................. 3641’’. 

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

6 this Act shall apply to individuals convicted of an offense 

7 before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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