CT Gen Stat § 54-142a. (Formerly Sec. 54-90) (2020)
2020 Connecticut General Statutes|Title 54 - Criminal Procedure|Chapter 961a - Criminal Records|Section 54-142a. (Formerly Sec. 54-90) - Erasure of criminal records.

 (a) Whenever in any criminal case, on or after October 1, 1969, the accused, by a final judgment, is found not guilty of the charge or the charge is dismissed, all police and court records and records of any state's attorney pertaining to such charge shall be erased upon the expiration of the time to file a writ of error or take an appeal, if an appeal is not taken, or upon final determination of the appeal sustaining a finding of not guilty or a dismissal, if an appeal is taken. Nothing in this subsection shall require the erasure of any record pertaining to a charge for which the defendant was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect or guilty but not criminally responsible by reason of mental disease or defect.(b) Whenever in any criminal case prior to October 1, 1969, the accused, by a final judgment, was found not guilty of the charge or the charge was dismissed, all police and court records and records of the state's or prosecuting attorney or the prosecuting grand juror pertaining to such charge shall be erased by operation of law and the clerk or any person charged with the retention and control of such records shall not disclose to anyone their existence or any information pertaining to any charge so erased; provided nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the arrested person or any one of his heirs from filing a petition for erasure with the court granting such not guilty judgment or dismissal, or, where the matter had been before a municipal court, a trial justice, the Circuit Court or the Court of Common Pleas with the records center of the Judicial Department and thereupon all police and court records and records of the state's attorney, prosecuting attorney or prosecuting grand juror pertaining to such charge shall be erased. Nothing in this subsection shall require the erasure of any record pertaining to a charge for which the defendant was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.(c) (1) Whenever any charge in a criminal case has been nolled in the Superior Court, or in the Court of Common Pleas, if at least thirteen months have elapsed since such nolle, all police and court records and records of the state's or prosecuting attorney or the prosecuting grand juror pertaining to such charge shall be erased, except that in cases of nolles entered in the Superior Court, Court of Common Pleas, Circuit Court, municipal court or by a justice of the peace prior to April 1, 1972, such records shall be deemed erased by operation of law and the clerk or the person charged with the retention and control of such records shall not disclose to anyone their existence or any information pertaining to any charge so erased, provided nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the arrested person or any one of his heirs from filing a petition to the court or to the records center of the Judicial Department, as the case may be, to have such records erased, in which case such records shall be erased.(2) Whenever any charge in a criminal case has been continued at the request of the prosecuting attorney, and a period of thirteen months has elapsed since the granting of such continuance during which period there has been no prosecution or other disposition of the matter, the charge shall be nolled upon motion of the arrested person and such erasure may thereafter be effected or a petition filed therefor, as the case may be, as provided in this subsection for nolled cases.(d) (1) Whenever prior to October 1, 1974, any person who has been convicted of an offense in any court of this state has received an absolute pardon for such offense, such person or any one of his heirs may, at any time subsequent to such pardon, file a petition with the superior court at the location in which such conviction was effected, or with the superior court at the location having custody of the records of such conviction or with the records center of the Judicial Department if such conviction was in the Court of Common Pleas, Circuit Court, municipal court or by a trial justice court, for an order of erasure, and the Superior Court or records center of the Judicial Department shall direct all police and court records and records of the state's or prosecuting attorney pertaining to such case to be erased.(2) Whenever such absolute pardon was received on or after October 1, 1974, such records shall be erased.(e) (1) The clerk of the court or any person charged with retention and control of such records in the records center of the Judicial Department or any law enforcement agency having information contained in such erased records shall not disclose to anyone, except the subject of the record, upon submission pursuant to guidelines prescribed by the Office of the Chief Court Administrator of satisfactory proof of the subject's identity, information pertaining to any charge erased under any provision of this section and such clerk or person charged with the retention and control of such records shall forward a notice of such erasure to any law enforcement agency to which he knows information concerning the arrest has been disseminated and such disseminated information shall be erased from the records of such law enforcement agency. Such clerk or such person, as the case may be, shall provide adequate security measures to safeguard against unauthorized access to or dissemination of such records or upon the request of the accused cause the actual physical destruction of such records, except that such clerk or such person shall not cause the actual physical destruction of such records until three years have elapsed from the date of the final disposition of the criminal case to which such records pertain.(2) No fee shall be charged in any court with respect to any petition under this section.(3) Any person who shall have been the subject of such an erasure shall be deemed to have never been arrested within the meaning of the general statutes with respect to the proceedings so erased and may so swear under oath.(f) Upon motion properly brought, the court or a judge of such court, if such court is not in session, shall order disclosure of such records (1) to a defendant in an action for false arrest arising out of the proceedings so erased, or (2) to the prosecuting attorney and defense counsel in connection with any perjury charges which the prosecutor alleges may have arisen from the testimony elicited during the trial, or any false statement charges, or any proceeding held pursuant to section 53a-40b, or (3) counsel for the petitioner and the respondent in connection with any habeas corpus or other collateral civil action in which evidence pertaining to a nolled or dismissed criminal charge may become relevant. Such disclosure of such records is subject also to any records destruction program pursuant to which the records may have been destroyed. The jury charge in connection with erased offenses may be ordered by the judge for use by the judiciary, provided the names of the accused and the witnesses are omitted therefrom.(g) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any police or court records or the records of any state's attorney or prosecuting attorney with respect to any information or indictment containing more than one count (1) while the criminal case is pending, or (2) when the criminal case is disposed of unless and until all counts are entitled to erasure in accordance with the provisions of this section, except that when the criminal case is disposed of, electronic records or portions of electronic records released to the public that reference a charge that would otherwise be entitled to erasure under this section shall be erased in accordance with the provisions of this section. Nothing in this section shall require the erasure of any information contained in the registry of protective orders established pursuant to section 51-5c. For the purposes of this subsection, “electronic record” means any police or court record or the record of any state's attorney or prosecuting attorney that is an electronic record, as defined in section 1-267, or a computer printout.(h) For the purposes of this section, “court records” shall not include a record or transcript of the proceedings made or prepared by an official court reporter, assistant court reporter or monitor.(1949 Rev., S. 8840; 1963, P.A. 482; 642, S. 72; 1967, P.A. 181; 663; 1969, P.A. 229, S. 1; 1971, P.A. 635, S. 1; 1972, P.A. 20, S. 2; P.A. 73-276, S. 1, 2; P.A. 74-52, S. 1, 2; 74-163, S. 1–3; 74-183, S. 152, 291; P.A. 75-541, S. 1, 2; P.A. 76-345; 76-388, S. 4, 6; 76-436, S. 10a, 551, 681; P.A. 77-429; 77-452, S. 40, 41, 42, 72; P.A. 81-218, S. 1; P.A. 83-486, S. 7; P.A. 91-3; P.A. 93-142, S. 3, 8; P.A. 95-133, S. 1; P.A. 96-63, 96-79, S. 1; P.A. 99-215, S. 18, 29; P.A. 02-132, S. 60; P.A. 08-151, S. 1; P.A. 12-133, S. 23; P.A. 17-216, S. 5.)History: 1963 acts substituted circuit court for court of common pleas, added provision for case when accused is found not guilty and provided for erasure of court records; 1967 acts added provisions re cases in common pleas, municipal and justice courts, reduced period to elapse before petition from three years to one year and added provisions requiring that petition have summons and proposed order appended, that copy of petition, summons and order be served at least 14 days before return day on specified persons, that clerk not disclose information pertaining to erased charge, that fee not be charged with respect to petition and that person subject of erasure order shall not be deemed to have been arrested ab initio with respect to erased proceedings; 1969 act inserted new provisions designated as Subsecs. (a) and (b) re final judgment of not guilty or dismissal of charges, designated previous provisions as Subsecs. (c) and (e), amending Subsec. (c) to remove references to judgments of not guilty and dismissal of charge for which application was previously same as for nolle and rephrasing Subsec. (e), and inserted new provisions re pardons as Subsec. (d); 1971 act deleted requirement that petition have summons and proposed order appended and that copy of petition, summons and proposed order be served at least 14 days before return day on specified persons; 1972 act added provisions applicable to continued cases in Subsec. (c); P.A. 73-276 deleted provisions re filing of petition with court granting nolle or with circuit court in matters pertaining to municipal court or justice of the peace and required that 13 months rather than one year have elapsed since nolle before petition filed; P.A. 74-52 amended Subsec. (c) to delete reference to nolles in common pleas court, municipal court or by justice of the peace, adding provision re nolles entered in those courts and in superior and circuit courts prior to April 1, 1972; P.A. 74-163 amended Subsec. (d) to specify applicability before or on and after October 1, 1974, added provisions in Subsec. (e) re forwarding of erasure notices, etc. and re storage or destruction of records and added Subsec. (f) re disclosure of records to accused or defendant; P.A. 74-183 amended section to reflect transfer of circuit court jurisdiction to common pleas court, reflecting reorganization of judicial system, effective December 31, 1974; P.A. 75-541 restated Subsec., prohibiting law enforcement agencies from disclosing information, referring to law enforcement agencies generally, rather than to persons, bodies or agencies including state department of police and required that court records and records of state's or prosecuting attorneys be sealed, replacing reference to unspecified records and added Subsec. (g) clarifying applicability of provisions re police or court records or records of state's or prosecuting attorneys; P.A. 76-345 added provisions in Subsec. (b) re police and court records and records of state's or prosecuting attorney, substituted nolles in common pleas court for those in circuit court in Subsec. (c) pursuant to requirements of P.A. 74-183 and added provisions in Subsec. (f) re disclosure of records in connection with perjury charge, re disclosure subject to records destruction program and re use of jury charge; P.A. 76-388 specified applicability re office of chief judge of court of common pleas; P.A. 76-436 amended section to reflect transfer of all trial jurisdiction to superior court, deleting references to chief judge, clerk and prosecuting attorneys of common pleas and other lesser courts and adding references to chief court administrator, effective July 1, 1978; P.A. 77-429 authorized disclosure to hospital or institution where accused confined in Subsec. (f); P.A. 77-452 confirmed substitution of chief court administrator for chief judge of common pleas court and other related changes made in Subsecs. (b), (c) and (e); Sec. 54-90 transferred to Sec. 54-142a in 1979; P.A. 81-218 provided that in a criminal case where the accused is found not guilty, the charge shall be erased upon expiration of time to file a writ of error or appeal or upon final determination of the appeal sustaining a finding of not guilty, required retention and control of records in the records center of the judicial department rather than in the office of chief court administrator, allowed a charge to be construed as nolled only if the charge has been continued at the request of the prosecuting attorney, rather than continued in superior or common pleas court, allowed court to order disclosure of records upon application of the accused, replacing provision which allowed disclosure if court finds that nondisclosure “may be harmful to the accused in a civil action” and added references to indictments in Subsec. (g); P.A. 83-486 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provision that erasure is not required of record pertaining to a charge for which the defendant was found, by reason of mental disease or defect, not guilty or guilty but not criminally responsible, amended Subsec. (b) by adding provision that erasure is not required of record pertaining to a charge for which the defendant was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, and amended Subsec. (f) by deleting provision which authorized court to disclose records to “any hospital or institution to which an accused is confined under the provisions of section 53a-47”; P.A. 91-3 amended Subsec. (e) to permit disclosure of records to subject of record pursuant to guidelines of chief court administrator of satisfactory proof of identity and amended Subsec. (f) by deleting language re disclosure of records by the court to the accused; P.A. 93-142 added “or dismissed” after “nolled”; P.A. 95-133 amended Subsec. (g) by deleting language re any count of any information which was nolled or dismissed and substituted indictment or information “containing more than one count” and added provision re disclosure and nonerasure of such information or indictment; P.A. 96-63 added Subsec. (h) to provide that the term “court records” does not include a record or transcript of the proceedings made or prepared by an official court reporter, assistant court reporter or monitor; P.A. 96-79 amended Subsec. (e) to add exception prohibiting the actual physical destruction of such records until three years have elapsed from the date of the final disposition of the criminal case to which such records pertain; P.A. 99-215 amended Subsec. (g) by deleting former provision prohibiting erasure if conviction upon one or more counts of information and permitting disclosure of information or indictment and substituting provision prohibiting erasure while criminal case is pending or when criminal case is disposed unless and until all counts are entitled to erasure in accordance with the provisions of this section, effective June 29, 1999; P.A. 02-132 amended Subsec. (g) by adding provision re information contained in the registry of protective orders established pursuant to Sec. 51-5c, effective January 1, 2003; P.A. 08-151 inserted Subdiv. designators in Subsecs. (c), (d) and (e), substituted “except that” for “However” in Subsec. (c)(1), made a technical change in Subsec. (f), and amended Subsec. (g) to insert exception for electronic records released to the public in Subdiv. (2) and define “electronic record”, effective October 1, 2009; P.A. 12-133 amended Subsec. (c)(2) by substituting “nolled upon motion of the arrested person” for “construed to have been nolled as of the date of termination of such thirteen-month period”; P.A. 17-216 amended Subsec. (f) by substituting “shall order” for “may order”, adding provision re false statement charges in Subdiv. (2), adding Subdiv. (3) re habeas corpus or other collateral civil action, and making technical changes.See Sec. 29-15 re return of fingerprints, pictures and descriptions, etc. to persons found not guilty or whose cases are dismissed or nolled.See Sec. 46b-146 re erasure of police and court records of delinquent children.See Sec. 54-76o re erasure of police and court records of youthful offenders.Annotations to former section 54-90:All police and court records include transcripts of criminal proceedings; prohibition against disclosure of information includes transcripts and applies to everyone. 165 C. 152. Application of statute to claim of denial of right to speedy trial. 174 C. 89.Cited. 29 CS 333; Id., 344; 30 CS 108; Id., 181; Id., 197; Id., 211; 31 CS 179. Preliminary motions in criminal cases entitled State v. Anonymous, in view of section. Id., 292; Id., 353. Cited. 32 CS 304; 33 CS 55. Subsec. (f) must be construed to allow disclosure not only to defendant in action for false arrest but also to defendant in action for malicious prosecution. Id., 158. Cited. 34 CS 527; Id., 656. Subsec. (c) applies where nolle was properly and unconditionally entered. 35 CS 516.Cited. 6 Conn. Cir. Ct. 655; Id., 667; Id., 751, 752.Annotations to present section:Cited. 179 C. 617. Fingerprints, pictures and description and other identification data regulated by Sec. 29-15 are not among the records whose disclosure is governed by this statute. 192 C. 488. Because disputed testimony was based on personal knowledge independent of the erased records, statute did not bar its admission. 200 C. 440. Cited. 201 C. 517; 206 C. 100. Act not intended to obliterate memory or to exclude any testimony not shown to have been derived from erased records. 216 C. 541. Cited. 227 C. 641; 232 C. 922; 237 C. 339. Although the state may not use the erased records to prove the basis for the sentence enhancement, the erasure provisions of this section do not prohibit the imposition of a sentence enhancement pursuant to Sec. 53a-40b after the records pertaining to the charges for which defendant was on pretrial release have been erased; this section and Sec. 54-142c do not categorically preclude the state from seeking to establish basis for sentence enhancement by use of evidence other than erased records. 319 C. 494.Defendant was entitled to erasure under statute; confidentiality afforded by Sec. 46b-11 does not sufficiently protect this right. 2 CA 472. Cited. 3 CA 590. Statute does not prevent police officers from testifying at subsequent parole hearing. 5 CA 343. Cited. 10 CA 103; 11 CA 224; 20 CA 737; 37 CA 62; judgment reversed, see 237 C. 501; 38 CA 777; 40 CA 705; judgment reversed, see 240 C. 590; 41 CA 649. When a law enforcement officer has been ordered by the court to vacate an arrest warrant, this is a mandatory duty; failure to do so may not be excused by governmental immunity. 110 CA 389. Trial court had no authority to impose sentence enhancement for crime committed while released on bond when, prior to sentencing, the records relating to the arrests that led to defendant's release on bond had been erased pursuant to section. 146 CA 641; judgment reversed in part, see 319 C. 494.Cited. 35 CS 186. Early release of transcripts to defendants during criminal trial not a violation of statute since, in event of acquittal, they would be entitled to them under provisions of Subsec. (f). 36 CS 9. Information contained in records automatically erased is unavailable to state in further proceedings. Id., 91. Cited. 38 CS 661; 40 CS 20; Id., 38; Id., 38; Id., 498; 41 CS 356.Subsec. (b):Term “records” does not include evidence obtained by police in the course of an investigation, nor does it preclude testimony of witnesses as to their personal recollection of events. 68 CA 596.Subsec. (c):Cited. 179 C. 1; 180 C. 153; 185 C. 199; 197 C. 602; 198 C. 435; 200 C. 453; 209 C. 52; Id., 133. Given that a dismissal or erasure pursuant to Subsec. (a) or (b) would trigger application of Sec. 53-39a, court concluded same result should follow erasure of records of a nolled case under this Subsec.; judgment of Appellate Court in 40 CA 705 reversed. 240 C. 590. In a matter where pretrial conference failed to result in agreement, statement by state to court that “case is going to remain on the firm trial list” did not equate to continuance at request of the prosecuting attorney; the phrase “continued at the request of the prosecuting attorney” requires an explicit, overt act of asking for continuance on part of state; Supreme Court does not adopt Appellate Court's interpretation of this section as speedy trial statute because such interpretation undermines and is inconsistent with Secs. 54-82c, 54-82d, 54-82l and 54-82m in terms of finality provided by said sections and specific procedural requirements contained therein. 286 C. 666.Explicit request required from state to continue case and statement indicating that case is to remain on firm trial list is not sufficient for continuance under statute. 99 CA 579.Information contained in records automatically erased after nolle is unavailable to the state in the preparation of a new warrant. 36 CS 91.Subsec. (d):Meaning of “court records” discussed and construed. 183 C. 183.Subsec. (e):Cited. 208 C. 411. By filing notice of intent to institute an action against town, defendant has waived provision of Subsec. that would otherwise permit him to have his arrest records destroyed; judgment of Appellate Court in 37 CA 62 reversed. 237 C. 501.Subsec. (f):By filing notice of intent to institute an action against town, defendant has waived nondisclosure provision of Subsec.; judgment of Appellate Court in 37 CA 62 reversed. 237 C. 501.Subsec. (h):Court properly prospectively applied “court records” exclusion and properly concluded that plaintiff's right to erasure did not vest until he was found not guilty on March 22, 2000. 67 CA 221.