I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3578 
To permit the expungement of records of certain nonviolent criminal offenses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2017 
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To permit the expungement of records of certain nonviolent 
criminal offenses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expungement Act of 
2017’’. 
SEC. 2. EXPUNGEMENT OF CRIMINAL RECORDS FOR CER-
TAIN NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 229 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after subchapter C 
the following new subchapter: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER D—EXPUNGEMENT 
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‘‘Sec. 
‘‘3631. Expungement of certain criminal records in limited circumstances. 
‘‘3632. Requirements for expungement. 
‘‘3633. Procedure for expungement. 
‘‘3634. Effect of expungement. 
‘‘3635. Reversal of expunged records. 
‘‘3636. Unsealing of records. 
‘‘§ 3631. Expungement of certain criminal records in 
limited circumstances 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any individual convicted of a 
nonviolent offense who fulfills the requirements of section 
3632 may file a petition under this subchapter to expunge 
the record of such conviction. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITION
OF NONVIOLENT OFFENSE.—In 
this subchapter, the term ‘nonviolent offense’ means a 
misdemeanor or felony offense against the United States 
that does not have as an element of the offense the use 
of a weapon or violence and which did not actually involve 
violence in its commission. 
‘‘§ 3632. Requirements for expungement 
‘‘No individual shall be eligible for expungement 
under this subchapter unless, before filing a petition under 
this subchapter, such individual— 
‘‘(1) has never been convicted of a violent of-
fense (including an offense under State law that 
would be a violent offense if it were Federal) and 
has been convicted of not more than one nonviolent 
offense other than the one for which expungement is 
sought; 
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‘‘(2) has fulfilled all requirements of the sen-
tence of the court in which conviction was obtained, 
including completion of any term of imprisonment or 
period of probation, meeting all conditions of a su-
pervised release; 
‘‘(3) has remained free from dependency on or 
abuse of alcohol or a controlled substance a min-
imum of 1 year and has been rehabilitated, to the 
satisfaction of the court referred to in section 
3633(b), if so required by the terms of a supervised 
release; and 
‘‘(4) has obtained a high school diploma or 
completed a high school equivalency program. 
‘‘§ 3633. Procedure for expungement 
‘‘(a) PETITION.—An individual may file a petition for 
expungement in the court in which the conviction was ob-
tained. A copy of the petition shall be served by the court 
upon the United States Attorney for the district in which 
the conviction sought to be expunged was obtained. Not 
later than 60 days after receipt of such petition, the 
United States Attorney may submit written recommenda-
tions to the court and notify the petitioner of that rec-
ommendation. 
‘‘(b) COURT-ORDERED EXPUNGEMENT.—The court, 
after consideration of evidence submitted by the petitioner 
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in support of the petition and any evidence submitted by 
the Government in support of objections it may have to 
granting the petition, shall rule on the petition. In making 
that ruling, the court, after determining whether the peti-
tioner meets the eligibility requirements of this sub-
chapter, shall weigh the interests of the petitioner against 
the best interests of justice and public safety. If denied, 
the person may file a new petition one year after the date 
of the court’s ruling. 
‘‘§ 3634. Effect of expungement 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An order granting expungement 
under this subchapter shall restore the individual con-
cerned, in the contemplation of the law, to the status such 
individual occupied before the arrest or institution of 
criminal proceedings for the crime that was the subject 
of the expungement. 
‘‘(b) NO DISQUALIFICATION; STATEMENTS.—After 
an order granting expungement of any individual’s crimi-
nal records under this subchapter, such individual shall 
not be required to divulge information pertaining to the 
expunged conviction and the fact that such individual has 
been convicted of the criminal offense concerned shall 
not— 
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