SB 491 — Establishing fee for expungement of certain criminal convictions

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Red = new code to be enacted WEST virginia legislature regular session IntroducedCommittee Substitute for Senate Bill 491 By Senators Boso and Cline [Introduced[Originating Februaryin 6,the 2018;Committee on the Judiciary;

ReferredReported toon theFebruary Committee20, on2018] the  Judiciary]  A BILL to amend and reenact §61-11-26 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to establishingdistribution aof portions of the filing fee charged for the expungement of certain criminal convictions upon proper petition.

The clerk of the circuit court shall charge and collect in advance the same fee as is charged for instituting a civil action pursuant to §59-1-11(a)(1) of this code for a petition for expungementexpungement. of which:

(1) (b) NinetyExpungement dollars that shall not be forwardedavailable tofor theany Superintendentconviction of thean Westoffense Virginialisted Statein Police§61-11-26(i) andof depositedthis intocode. a nonappropriated special revenue account within the State Treasurer’s office to be known as the West Virginia State Police Criminal History Account;

(2) Twenty dollars shall be deposited in the courthouse facilities created by §29-26-6 of this code;

(3) Forty dollars shall be deposited in the special revenue account designated the Fund for Civil Legal Services for Low Income Persons, established by §61-11-10(c)(4)(B) of this code;

and (4) Twenty dollars shall be deposited in the special revenue account created in §48-26-603 of this code to provide legal services for domestic violence victims.

(b) Expungement shall not be available for any conviction of an offense listed in subsection (i) of this section.

No person shall may be eligible for expungement pursuant to the provisions of subsection§61-11-26(a) (a) of this sectioncode until one year after the conviction, completion of any sentence of incarceration or probation, whichever is later in time.

(1) Petitioner'sPetitioner’s current name and all other legal names or aliases by which petitioner has been known at any time;

(2) All of petitioner'spetitioner’s addresses from the date of the offense or alleged offense in connection with which an expungement order is sought to date of the petition;

(3) Petitioner'sPetitioner’s date of birth and social security number;

(4) Petitioner'sPetitioner’s date of arrest, the court of jurisdiction and criminal complaint, indictment, summonssummons, or case number;

(8) The court'scourt’s disposition of the matter and punishment imposed, if any;

the magistrate court or municipal court which disposed of the petitioner'spetitioner’s criminal charge;

the magistrate court or municipal court which disposed of the petitioner'spetitioner’s criminal charge;

The petitioner may file a reply no later than 10 days after service of any notice of opposition to the petition for expungement.

(1) The conviction or convictions for which expungement is sought are the only convictions against petitioner and that the conviction or convictions are not excluded from expungement by subsection§61-11-26(j) (j) of this section;code;

At the hearing, the court may inquire into the background of the petitioner and shall have access to any reports or records relating to the petitioner that are on file with any law-enforcement authority, the institution of confinement, if any, and parole authority or other agency which was in any way involved with the petitioner'spetitioner’s arrest, conviction, sentence, and post-conviction supervision, including any record of arrest or conviction in any other state or federal court.

(i) No person shall may be eligible for expungement of a conviction and the records associated therewith pursuant to the provisions of subsection§61-11-26(a) (a) of this sectioncode for any violation involving the infliction of serious physical injury;

For the purposes of this section, “records” do not include the records of the Governor, the LegislatureLegislature, or the Secretary of State that pertain to a grant of pardon.

(l) Inspection of the sealed records in the court'scourt’s possession may thereafter be permitted by the court only upon a motion by the person who is the subject of the records or upon a petition filed by a prosecuting attorney that inspection and possible use of the records in question are necessary to the investigation or prosecution of a crime in this state or another jurisdiction.

 (m) NOTE:Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, portions of the fee collected pursuant to §61-11-26(a) of this code are specifically dedicated as follows:

The(1)  purposeNinety ofdollars thisshall billbe isdeposited toin establishthe aspecial feerevenue foraccount designated the expungementWest ofVirginia certainState criminalPolice convictionsCriminal uponHistory properAccount petition.within the Office of the State Treasurer;

Strike-throughs(2)  indicateForty languagedollars thatshall would be strickendeposited fromin athe headingspecial orrevenue theaccount presentdesignated lawthe andFund underscoringfor indicatesCivil newLegal languageServices thatfor wouldLow beIncome added.Persons;

(3)  Twenty dollars shall be deposited in the special revenue account designated the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Fund;

and (4)  Twenty dollars shall be deposited in the special revenue account designated the Domestic Violence Legal Services Fund within the Office of the State Treasurer.