I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1529 
To permit expungement of records of certain nonviolent criminal offenses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 16, 2009 
Mr. RANGEL 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. 
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 ‘‘Second Chance for Ex- 
Offenders Act of 2009’’. 
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: 
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‘‘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. Reversal of expunged records. 
‘‘3636. Unsealing of records. 
‘‘§ 3631. Expungement of certain criminal records in 
limited circumstances 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any individual convicted of an 
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 never been convicted of a 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, and paying all fines; 
‘‘(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; 
‘‘(4) has obtained a high school diploma or 
completed a high school equivalency program; and 
‘‘(5) has completed at least one year of commu-
nity service, as determined by the court referred to 
in section 3633(b). 
‘‘§ 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-
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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 
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. 
‘‘§ 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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‘‘(1) operate as a disqualification of such indi-
vidual to pursue or engage in any lawful activity, oc-
cupation, profession, and 
‘‘(2) held under any provision of law guilty of 
perjury, false answering, or making a false state-
ment by reason of his failure to recite or acknowl-
edge such arrest or institution of criminal pro-
ceedings, or results thereof, in response to an in-
quiry made of him for any purpose. 
‘‘(c) RECORDS EXPUNGED OR SEALED.—Upon order 
of expungement, all official law enforcement and court 
records, including all references to such person’s arrest for 
the offense, the institution of criminal proceedings against 
him, and the results thereof, except publicly available 
court opinions or briefs on appeal, shall be expunged (in 
the case of nontangible records) or gathered together and 
sealed (in the case of tangible records). 
‘‘(d) RECORD OF DISPOSITION TO BE RETAINED.— 
A nonpublic record of a disposition or conviction that is 
the subject of an expungement order shall be retained only 
by the Department of Justice solely for the purpose of use 
by the courts in any subsequent adjudication. 
‘‘§ 3635. Disclosure of expunged records 
‘‘(a) LAW ENFORCEMENT PURPOSES.—The Depart-
ment of Justice may maintain a nonpublic manual or com-
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puterized index of expunged records containing only the 
name of, and alphanumeric identifiers that relate to, the 
persons who are the subject of such expunged records, the 
word ‘expunged’, and the name of the person, agency, of-
fice, or department that has custody of the expunged 
records, and shall not name the offense committed. The 
index shall be made available only to Federal and State 
law enforcement personnel who have custody of such ex-
punged records and only for the purposes set forth in sub-
section (b) of this section. 
‘‘(b) AUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE.—Such records shall 
be made available to the person accused or to such per-
son’s designated agent and shall be made available to— 
‘‘(1) any prosecutor, law enforcement agency, 
or court which has responsibility for criminally in-
vestigating, prosecuting, or adjudicating such indi-
vidual; 
‘‘(2) any State or local office or agency with re-
sponsibility for the issuance of licenses to possess 
guns where the accused has made application for 
such license; or 
‘‘(3) any prospective city, State, or Federal em-
ployer or agency, involved in investigating and/or 
prosecuting under criminal or civil statutes including 
employers of police or peace officers and in relation 
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to an application for employment as an employee of 
a city, State, or Federal employer or agency involved 
in investigating or prosecuting under criminal or 
civil statutes including as a police officer or peace 
officer, and every person who is an applicant for the 
position of police officer, peace officer, or any other 
prospective city, State, or Federal employer or agen-
cy, involved in investigating or prosecuting under 
criminal or civil statutes shall be furnished with a 
copy of all records obtained under this paragraph 
and afforded an opportunity to make an explanation 
thereto. 
‘‘(c) PUNISHMENT FOR IMPROPER DISCLOSURE.— 
Any person who knowingly disseminates information relat-
ing to an expunged conviction other than the offender 
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 
one year, or both. 
‘‘§ 3636. Reversal of expunged records 
‘‘The records expunged under this subchapter shall 
be restored by operation of law as public records and may 
be used in all court proceedings if the individual whose 
conviction was expunged is subsequently convicted of any 
Federal or State offense.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sub-
chapters at the beginning of chapter 229 of title 18, 
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United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following item: 
‘‘D. Expungement ............................................................................... 3631’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this Act shall apply to individuals convicted of an offense 
before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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