A BILL
To permit expungement of records of certain nonviolent criminal offenses.
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 `Second Chance for Ex-Offenders Act of 2007'.
SEC. 2. EXPUNGEMENT OF CRIMINAL RECORDS FOR CERTAIN 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
`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.
`Sec. 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.
`Sec. 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 offense
(including an offense under State law that would be a violent offense
if it were Federal) and has never been convicted of a nonviolent
offense other than the one for which expungement is sought;
`(2) has fulfilled all requirements of the sentence of
the court in which conviction was obtained, including completion of any
term of imprisonment or period of probation, meeting all conditions of
a supervised release, and paying all fines;
`(3) has remained free from dependency on or abuse of
alcohol or a controlled substance a minimum 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 community service, as determined by the court referred to in section 3633(b).
`Sec. 3633. Procedure for expungement
`(a) Petition- An individual may file a petition for
expungement in the court in which the conviction was obtained. A copy
of the petition shall be served by the court upon the United States
Attorney for the district in which the conviction sought to be expunged
was obtained. Not later than 60 days after receipt of such petition,
the United States Attorney may submit written recommendations to the
court and notify the petitioner of that recommendation.
`(b) Court-Ordered Expungement- The court, after
consideration of evidence submitted by the petitioner in support of the
petition and any evidence submitted by the Government in support of
objections it may have to granting the petition, shall rule on the
petition. In making that ruling the court, after determining whether
the petitioner meets the eligibility requirements of this subchapter,
shall weigh the interests of the petitioner against the best interests
of justice and public safety.
`Sec. 3634. Effect of expungement
`(a) In General- An order granting expungement under this
subchapter shall restore the individual concerned, in the contemplation
of the law, to the status such individual occupied before the arrest or
institution of 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 criminal 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 individual to pursue or engage in any lawful activity, occupation, profession, and
`(2) held under any provision of law guilty of perjury,
false answering, or making a false statement by reason of his failure
to recite or acknowledge such arrest or institution of criminal
proceedings, or results thereof, in response to an inquiry 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.
`Sec. 3635. Disclosure of expunged records
`(a) Law Enforcement Purposes- The Department of Justice
may maintain a nonpublic manual or computerized 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, office, 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
expunged records and only for the purposes set forth in subsection (b)
of this section.
`(b) Authorized Disclosure- Such records shall be made
available to the person accused or to such person's designated agent
and shall be made available to--
`(1) any prosecutor, law enforcement agency, or court
which has responsibility for criminally investigating, prosecuting, or
adjudicating such individual;
`(2) any State or local office or agency with
responsibility 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 employer
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 agency, 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 relating to an expunged conviction
other than the offender shall be fined under this title or imprisoned
not more than one year, or both.
`Sec. 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 subchapters at the
beginning of chapter 229 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following item:
3631'.
(c) 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.
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