Fresh Start Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.5651 | Sponsor: Rep. Trone, David J. (D-MD)
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Fresh Start Act of 2021
This bill authorizes the Department of Justice to award grants for states to implement automatic expungement laws (i.e., laws that provide for the automatic expungement or sealing of an individual's criminal records).

To establish a grant program for States for purposes of modernizing 
  criminal justice data infrastructure to facilitate automated record 
            sealing and expungement, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fresh Start Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Attorney General may make not more than 1 
grant under this Act to each eligible State. Each such grant shall be 
in an amount of not more than $5,000,000.
    (b) Eligibility.--A State shall be eligible if--
            (1) the State has in effect a covered expungement law;
            (2) the law of the State provides that expungement or 
        sealing of a criminal record shall not be delayed by reason of 
        a failure to pay a fee or fine; and
            (3) the State submits an application to the Attorney 
        General, containing such information as the Attorney General 
        may require, including, at a minimum--
                    (A) information identifying whether there is a 
                system that, as of the date of the application, exists 
                for record expungement or record sealing in the State;
                    (B) a description of how infrastructure created 
                through grant funding will facilitate automatic 
                expungement or record sealing funding for individuals 
                eligible for record sealing or expungement; and
                    (C) an identification of the anticipated number of 
                individuals that would benefit from the implementation 
                of automated expungement or record sealing 
                infrastructure.

SEC. 3. USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.

    A grant under section 2 shall be used to implement a covered 
expungement law in accordance with the following:
            (1) Not more than 10 percent of such grant shall be used 
        for research or planning for criminal record data 
        infrastructure improvements that will make criminal record 
        expungement or sealing automatic.
            (2) Any remaining amounts shall be used to implement such 
        improvements.
            (3) The portion of the costs of implementing such a law 
        provided by a grant under this section may not exceed 75 
        percent.

SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) In General.--A State receiving a grant under section 2 shall 
report to the Attorney General, each year of the grant term, pursuant 
to guidelines established by the Attorney General, information 
regarding the following:
            (1) The number of individuals eligible for automatic 
        expungement or sealing under the covered expungement law of 
        that State, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender.
            (2) The number of individuals whose records have been 
        expunged or sealed annually since the enactment of such law, 
        disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender.
            (3) The number of individuals whose application for 
        expungement or sealing under such law are still pending, 
        disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender.
    (b) Inaccessibility of Data for Reporting.--In the event that 
elements of the data on expungement and sealing required to be reported 
under paragraph (1) are not able to be compiled and reported, the State 
shall develop and report a comprehensive plan to obtain as much of the 
unavailable data as possible not later than the date that is one year 
after the first year of the grant being awarded.
    (c) Publication.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, and each year thereafter, the Attorney General shall 
publish, and make available to the public, a report containing the data 
reported to the Attorney General under this section.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Terms used have the meanings given such terms in 
        section 901 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 
        of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251).
            (2) The term ``automatic'' means, with regard to the 
        expungement or sealing of a criminal record, that such 
        expungement or sealing occurs without any action required on 
        the part of the State from an eligible individual.
            (3) The term ``covered expungement law'' means a law of a 
        State providing for the automatic expungement or sealing, 
        subject to such requirements as the State may impose, of a 
        criminal record of an individual.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for each of 
fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to carry out this Act.
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