I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 696
To permit expungement of records of certain nonviolent criminal offenses.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 14, 2001
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 2001’’.
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
‘‘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) other
than the one for which expungement is sought;
‘‘(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) 
DEFINITION
OF
SATISFACTION
OF
THE
COURT.—In this subchapter, the term ‘satisfaction of the
court’ means the individual has met all conditions required
at sentencing and conditions of probation by the court in
which the conviction was obtained.
‘‘(b) PETITION.—An individual may file a petition for
expungement at the satisfaction of the court in which the
conviction was obtained if convicted of a felony and at the
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—
‘‘(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-
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
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,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following item:
‘‘D.
Expungement ........................................................................ 3631’’.
(d) 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