Criminal procedure: vacatur relief.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on what happens if a licensing entity fails to respond within 45 days, nor does it specify the exact nature of the response required from the licensing agency.

Vacatur Relief for Victims of Violence

This law requires courts to consider public health, safety, and welfare before erasing convictions or arrests for nonviolent crimes if the person was a victim of intimate partner violence or sexual violence and holds a professional license.

What This Bill Does

• Allows people who were victims of intimate partner violence or sexual violence to ask the court to remove their arrest or conviction record for certain nonviolent offenses.
• Requires courts to consider public health, safety, and welfare before erasing convictions if the person has a professional license related to their crime.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who were victims of intimate partner violence or sexual violence and have nonviolent offenses on their record.
• Courts that handle these types of cases.
• Licensing agencies responsible for professional licenses.

Terms To Know

Vacatur relief

A court order to remove an arrest or conviction from a person's criminal record.

Licensee

Someone who has been given permission by the government to do certain jobs or activities, like being a doctor or lawyer.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if the licensing agency does not respond within 45 days.
• It is unclear how this law will affect people who do not have professional licenses.

Official Summary Text

AB 479, as introduced, Tangipa.
Criminal procedure: vacatur relief.
Existing law allows a person who was arrested or convicted of a nonviolent offense while they were a victim of intimate partner violence, or sexual violence, to petition the court, under penalty of perjury, for vacatur relief. Existing law requires, in order to receive that relief, that the petitioner establish, by clear and convincing evidence, that the arrest or conviction was the direct result of being a victim of intimate partner violence or sexual violence that demonstrates the petitioner lacked the requisite intent. Existing law authorizes the court to vacate the conviction if it makes specified findings.
This bill would require the court, before it may vacate the conviction, to make findings regarding the impact on the public health, safety, and welfare, if the petitioner holds a license, as defined, and the offense is substantially related
to the qualifications, functions, or duties of a licensee. The bill would require a petitioner who holds a license to serve the petition and supporting documentation on the applicable licensing entity and would give the licensing entity 45 days to respond to the petition for relief.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF