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History
- Referred to codes
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S4031
Title of bill
An act to amend the criminal procedure law and the executive law, in relation to permitting the sealing of records of certain nonviolent misdemeanor or non-sexual misdemeanor offenses
Purpose
To allow the sealing of non-violent, non-sexual misdemeanor offenses.
Summary of provisions
The criminal procedure law is amended by adding 160.65 to allow the sealing of certain criminal records.
Section 1(a) defines the term "nonviolent misdemeanor". Section 1(b) defines the term "non-sexual misdemeanor".
Section 2 indicates that any nonviolent, non-sexual misdemeanor offense is eligible for sealing.
Section 3 indicates the requirements for sealing of a record including that the individual has not been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor in the past 5 years.
Section 4 indicates that upon conviction for a sealable offense or being placed under supervision for a sealable offense the accused shall be informed by the court of the right to have the record sealed.
Section 5 describes the application procedure and the process for seal- ing. This section also indicates that once sealing is granted the indi- vidual shall not be required to divulge information that he/she has been convicted of the sealed offense.
Sections 6 through 7 describe the record-gathering and sealing processes as well as indicating who may have access to the sealed records.
Section 8 indicates that the sealed records will be restored and may be used against the individual if the person is subsequently convicted of any state or federal offense.
Justification
A misdemeanor offense can follow a person for the rest of his or her life. Even if he or she has fully reformed and committed no further criminal acts the record still exists and can for the basis for discrim- ination in employment or other areas. This bill would allow a person who has been convicted of a non-sexual, nonviolent misdemeanor offense to apply to the Court to have their record sealed. Once sealed, the former offender would have the right to legally indicate "no" when asked if
he/she has ever been convicted of the sealed misdemeanor. However, if the individual is subsequently convicted of a subsequent offense the record is unsealed and may be used against him/her.
Existing law
There is currently no process for the sealing of misdemeanor offenses.
Legislative history
S.682 of 2011 01/05/2011 REFERRED TO CODES 01/09/13 REFERRED TO CODES 01/08/14 REFERRED TO CODES
Fiscal implications
Unknown.
Local fiscal implications
Unknown.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the 180th day after becoming a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.