Virginia Administrative Code › Title 6 - CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONS › Agency 20 - DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES › Chapter 120 - REGULATIONS RELATING TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD INFORMATION USE AND SECURITY › Part II - Criminal History Record Information Use › Section 6VAC20-120-80 - Expungement and sealing

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. The
				  expungement of a criminal history record or portion thereof is only permitted
				  on the basis of a court order. Upon receipt of a court order, petition, and
				  other supporting documents for the expungement of a criminal history record,
				  the superintendent, pursuant to § 19.2-392.2 of the Code of Virginia, shall by
				  letter with an enclosed copy of the order direct the Central Criminal Records
				  Exchange and those agencies and individuals known to maintain or to have
				  obtained such a record to remove the electronic or manual record or portion
				  thereof from its repository and place it in a physically sealed, separate file.
				  The file shall be properly indexed to allow for later retrieval of the record
				  if required by court order, and the record shall be labeled with the following
				  designation: "EXPUNGED RECORD TO BE UNSEALED ONLY BY COURT ORDER."
B. Responsibility of agencies with a record
				  to be expunged. The record named in the Virginia Department of State Police's
				  letter shall be removed from normal access. The expunged information shall be
				  sealed but remain available, as the courts may call for its reopening at a
				  later date. (See § 19.2-392.3 of the Code of Virginia.) Access to the record
				  shall be possible only through a name index of expunged records maintained
				  either with the expunged records or in a manner that will allow subsequent
				  retrieval of the expunged record as may be required by the court or as part of
				  the department's audit procedures. Should the name index make reference to the
				  expunged record, it shall be apart from normally accessed files.
C. Procedure for expungement and sealing of
				  electronic and hard copy records.
1. The
				  expungement and sealing of hard copy original records of entry (arrest forms)
				  is accomplished by physically removing them from a file and filing them in a
				  physically secure location elsewhere, apart from normally accessed files. This
				  file should be used only for expunged records and should be accessible only to
				  the manager of records.
2. If the
				  information to be expunged is included among other information that has not
				  been expunged on the same form or piece of paper, the expunged information
				  shall be obliterated on the original or the original shall be retyped
				  eliminating the expunged information. The expunged information shall then be
				  placed in the file for expunged records, in its original or copied form, and
				  shall be accessible only to the manager of records.
3. If the expunged information is located on
				  a criminal history record provided by the Central Criminal Records Exchange
				  (i.e., "RAP sheet"), the criminal history record information shall be
				  destroyed, and a new copy, not containing the expunged data, shall be obtained
				  when necessary.