‘‘(c) POWERS.—The Review Board shall— 
‘‘(1) review petitions under this subchapter to 
determine whether the youth, and the offense on 
which the petition is based, meet the eligibility re-
quirements for expungement or sealing consider-
ation; 
‘‘(2) for petitions meeting the eligibility require-
ments, evaluate those petitions on the merits in 
order to make a recommendation on the advisability 
of granting the petition; and 
‘‘(3) convey its recommendation, with a written 
explanation, to the Chief Judge in each Federal Dis-
trict, or a designee of the Chief Judge, for consider-
ation. 
‘‘(d) 
RECOMMENDATION.—In 
making 
its 
rec-
ommendation, the Review Board— 
‘‘(1) shall consider all the evidence and testi-
mony presented in the petition and any hearings 
held on the petition; 
‘‘(2) may not consider any arrest or prosecution 
that did not result in a conviction and that took 
place prior to the conviction or arrest the petitioner 
is seeking to expunge or seal; and 
‘‘(3) shall balance— 
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‘‘(A) the public safety, the interest of pub-
lic knowledge, and any legitimate interest of the 
Government in maintaining the accessibility of 
the protected information; against 
‘‘(B) the interest of the petitioner in hav-
ing the petition granted, including the benefit 
to the petition’s ability to positively contribute 
to the community, and the petitioner’s conduct 
and demonstrated desire to be rehabilitated. 
‘‘(e) COURT TO CONSIDER AND DECIDE UPON PETI-
TIONS.—The Court shall consider and decide upon each 
petition for which the court receives a recommendation 
from the Review Board. The Court’s decision to grant or 
deny the petition shall give significant weight to the Re-
view Board recommendation. The Court shall grant the 
petition unless the Government shows the interests de-
scribed in subsection (d)(3)(A) outweigh the interests of 
the petitioner described in subsection (d)(3)(B). 
‘‘(f) ONE OPPORTUNITY.—A youth may only file a 
petition for expungement or sealing under this subchapter 
once and the decision of the district court on the petition 
shall be final and is not appealable. 
‘‘(g) ONLINE FORMS FOR PETITIONS.—The Director 
of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts 
shall create and make available to the public, online and 
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in paper form, a universal form to file a petition under 
this section, and establish a process under which indigent 
petitioners may obtain a waiver of any fee for filing a peti-
tion under this section. 
‘‘(h) MAKING AVAILABLE STANDARD FORMS FOR 
COURT ORDERS.—The Director of the Administrative Of-
fice of the United States Courts shall create and make 
available to the Chief Judge of every Federal district 
standard expungement and sealing orders that empower 
the petitioner to seek destruction of records in accordance 
with the order. 
‘‘§ 3632. Expungement and sealing for youth 
‘‘(a) EXPUNGEMENT
PETITION
ELIGIBILITY.—A 
youth may petition a district court of the United States 
for expungement— 
‘‘(1) of the record of any misdemeanor or non-
violent felony drug conviction 3 years after the youth 
has completed every term of imprisonment related to 
that misdemeanor or nonviolent felony drug convic-
tion; 
‘‘(2) of the record of any person who has not 
attained the age of 18 at the time of committing the 
conduct resulting in conviction for any misdemeanor 
or nonviolent offense 3 years after the person has 
completed every term of imprisonment related to 
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that misdemeanor or nonviolent offense conviction; 
and 
‘‘(3) of the record of an arrest or prosecution 
for any nonviolent offense on the date on which the 
case related to that arrest or prosecution is disposed 
of. 
‘‘(b) SEALING PETITION ELIGIBILITY.—A youth may 
petition a district court of the United States, for sealing— 
‘‘(1) of the record of any nonviolent conviction 
5 years after the youth has completed every term of 
imprisonment related to that nonviolent conviction; 
‘‘(2) of the record of any person who has not 
attained the age of 18 at the time of committing the 
conduct resulting in conviction for any offense 10 
years after the person has completed every term of 
imprisonment related to that offense conviction; and 
‘‘(3) of the record of an arrest or prosecution 
for any nonviolent offense on the date on which the 
case related to that arrest or prosecution is disposed 
of. 
‘‘(c) NOTICE
OF OPPORTUNITY TO FILE PETI-
TION.—A youth shall be informed of the eligibility to, pro-
cedures for, and benefits of filing an expungement or seal-
ing petition— 
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‘‘(1) by the District Court on the date of con-
viction; 
‘‘(2) by the Office of Probation and Pretrial 
Services on the date the youth completes every term 
of imprisonment; or 
‘‘(3) if the arrest or prosecution does not result 
in a conviction, then by the Department of Justice 
on the date the case is disposed of. 
‘‘(d) GRANT OF PETITION.—If a court grants a peti-
tion under this section— 
‘‘(1) the person to whom the record pertains 
may choose to, but is not required to, disclose the 
existence of the record, and the offense conduct and 
any arrest, juvenile delinquency proceeding, adju-
dication, conviction, or other result of such pro-
ceeding relating to the offense conduct, shall be 
treated as if it never occurred; 
‘‘(2) the court shall destroy each paper and 
electronic copy of the record in the possession of the 
court; 
‘‘(3) the court shall issue an expungement or 
sealing order requiring the destruction of any paper 
and electronic copies of the record by any court, law 
enforcement officer, law enforcement agency, treat-
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ment or rehabilitation services agency, or employee 
thereof in possession of those copies; 
‘‘(4) any entity or person listed in paragraph 
(3) that receives an inquiry relating to the record 
shall reply to the inquiry stating that no such record 
exists; and 
‘‘(5) except as provided in subsection (f), no 
person shall not be subject to prosecution under any 
civil or criminal provision of Federal or State law re-
lating to perjury, false swearing, or making a false 
statement for failing to acknowledge the record or 
respond to any inquiry made of the petitioner or the 
parent relating to the record, for any purpose. 
‘‘(e) CIVIL ACTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an individual who has a 
record expunged or sealed under this section brings 
an action that might be defended with the contents 
of the record, there shall be a rebuttable presump-
tion that the defendant has a complete defense to 
the action. 
‘‘(2) SHOWING
BY
PLAINTIFF.—In an action 
described in paragraph (1), the plaintiff may rebut 
the presumption of a complete defense by showing 
that the contents of the record would not prevent 
the defendant from being liable. 
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‘‘(3) DUTY TO TESTIFY AS TO EXISTENCE OF 
RECORD.—The court in which an action described in 
paragraph (1) is filed may require the plaintiff to 
state under oath whether the plaintiff had a record 
and whether the record was expunged or sealed. 
‘‘(4) PROOF OF EXISTENCE OF RECORD.—If the 
plaintiff in an action described in paragraph (1) de-
nied the existence of a record, the defendant may 
prove the existence of the record in any manner 
compatible with the applicable laws of evidence. 
‘‘(f) ATTORNEY GENERAL NONPUBLIC RECORDS.— 
The Attorney General shall— 
‘‘(1) maintain a nonpublic database of all 
records expunged or sealed under this subchapter; 
‘‘(2) disclose, access, or utilize records con-
tained in the nonpublic database only— 
‘‘(A) in defense of any civil suit arising out 
of the facts contained in the record; 
‘‘(B) to determine whether the individual 
to whom the record relates is eligible for a first- 
time-offender diversion program; 
‘‘(C) for a background check that relates 
to law enforcement employment or any employ-
ment that requires a Government security clear-
ance; or 
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‘‘(D) if the Attorney General determines 
that disclosure is necessary to serve the inter-
ests of national security; and 
‘‘(3) to the extent practicable, notify the indi-
vidual to whom the record pertains of the disclosure 
unless it is made pursuant to paragraph (2)(D). 
‘‘§ 3633. Definitions 
‘‘In this subchapter— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘youth’ means an individual who 
was 21 years of age or younger at the time of the 
criminal offense for which the individual was ar-
rested, prosecuted, or sentenced; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘nonviolent felony’ means a Fed-
eral criminal felony offense that is not— 
‘‘(A) a crime of violence; or 
‘‘(B) a sex offense (as that term is defined 
in section 111 of the Sex Offender Registration 
and Notification Act); 
‘‘(3) the term ‘record’ means information, 
whether in paper or electronic form, containing any 
reference to— 
‘‘(A) an arrest, conviction, or sentence of 
an individual for an offense; 
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‘‘(B) the institution of juvenile delinquency 
or criminal proceedings against an individual 
for the offense; or 
‘‘(C) adjudication, conviction, or any other 
result of juvenile delinquency or criminal pro-
ceedings; 
‘‘(4) the term ‘expunge’— 
‘‘(A) means to destroy a record and oblit-
erate the name of the person to whom the 
record pertains from each official index or pub-
lic record; and 
‘‘(B) has the effect described in section 
3631(g), including— 
‘‘(i) the right to treat an offense to 
which an expunged record relates, and any 
arrest, juvenile delinquency proceeding, ad-
judication, conviction, or other result of 
such proceeding relating to the offense, as 
if it never occurred; and 
‘‘(ii) protection from civil and criminal 
perjury, false swearing, and false state-
ment laws with respect to an expunged 
record; 
‘‘(5) the term ‘seal’— 
‘‘(A) means— 
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‘‘(i) to close a record from public 
viewing so that the record cannot be exam-
ined except by court order; and 
‘‘(ii) to physically seal the record shut 
and label the record ‘SEALED’ or, in the 
case of an electronic record, the sub-
stantive equivalent; and 
‘‘(B) has the effect described in section 
3631(g), including— 
‘‘(i) the right to treat an offense to 
which an expunged record relates, and any 
arrest, juvenile delinquency proceeding, ad-
judication, conviction, or other result of 
such proceeding relating to the offense, as 
if it never occurred; and 
‘‘(ii) protection from civil and criminal 
perjury, false swearing, and false state-
ment laws with respect to an expunged 
record; 
‘‘(6) the term ‘conviction’— 
‘‘(A) means a judgment or disposition in 
criminal court against a person following a find-
ing of guilt by a judge or jury; and 
‘‘(B) for the purposes of this section— 
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‘‘(i) multiple convictions shall be 
deemed to be one conviction if the convic-
tions result from or relate to the same act 
or acts committed at the same time; and 
‘‘(ii) multiple convictions, not to ex-
ceed 3, that do not result from or relate to 
the same act or acts committed at the 
same time shall be deemed to be one con-
viction if the convictions result from or re-
late to the same indictment, information, 
or complaint, or plea of guilty; and 
‘‘(7) the term ‘destroy’ means to render a file 
unreadable, whether paper, electronic, or otherwise 
stored, by shredding, pulverizing, pulping, incin-
erating, overwriting, reformatting the media, or 
other means. 
‘‘§ 3634. Reporting 
‘‘Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this subchapter, and each year thereafter, the Attorney 
General shall issue a public report that— 
‘‘(1) describes— 
‘‘(A) the number of expungement and seal-
ing petitions granted and denied; and 
‘‘(B) the number of instances in which the 
office of a United States attorney supported or 
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opposed an expungement or sealing petition; 
and 
‘‘(2) includes any supporting data that the 
court determines relevant but does not name any pe-
titioner.’’. 
SEC. 3. RETROACTIVE EFFECT. 
This Act and the amendments made by this Act apply 
with respect to youth without regard to whether they be-
come involved in the Federal criminal justice system be-
fore, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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