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To: Judiciary B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Representative Mickens
HOUSE BILL NO. 307
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 99-19-71, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REMOVE CERTAIN TYPES OF EMBEZZLEMENT FROM THE LIST OF CRIMES 2
THAT ARE EXCLUDED FROM EXPUNGEMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 4
SECTION 1. Section 99-19-71, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 5
amended as follows: 6
99-19-71. (1) Any person who has been convicted of a 7
misdemeanor that is not a traffic violation, and who is a first 8
offender, may petition the justice, county, circuit or municipal 9
court in which the conviction was had for an order to expunge any 10
such conviction from all public records. 11
(2) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a 12
person who has been convicted of a felony and who has paid all 13
criminal fines and costs of court imposed in the sentence of 14
conviction may petition the court in which the conviction was had 15
for an order to expunge one (1) conviction from all public records 16
five (5) years after the successful completion of all terms and 17
conditions of the sentence for the conviction upon a hearing as 18
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determined in the discretion of the court; however, a person is 19
not eligible to expunge a felony classified as: 20
(i) A crime of violence as provided in Section 21
97-3-2; 22
(ii) Arson, first degree as provided in Sections 23
97-17-1 and 97-17-3; 24
(iii) Trafficking in controlled substances as 25
provided in Section 41-29-139; 26
(iv) A third, fourth or subsequent offense DUI as 27
provided in Section 63-11-30(2)(c) and (2)(d); 28
(v) Felon in possession of a firearm as provided 29
in Section 97-37-5; 30
(vi) Failure to register as a sex offender as 31
provided in Section 45-33-33; 32
(vii) Voyeurism as provided in Section 97-29-61; 33
(viii) Witness intimidation as provided in Section 34
97-9-113; or 35
(ix) Abuse, neglect or exploitation of a 36
vulnerable person as provided in Section 43-47-19 * * *. 37
* * * 38
A person is eligible for only one (1) felony expunction under 39
this paragraph. For the purposes of this section, the terms "one 40
(1) conviction" and "one (1) felony expunction" mean and include 41
all convictions that arose from a common nucleus of operative 42
facts as determined in the discretion of the court. 43
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(b) The petitioner shall give ten (10) days' written 44
notice to the district attorney before any hearing on the 45
petition. In all cases, the court wherein the petition is filed 46
may grant the petition if the court determines, on the record or 47
in writing, that the applicant is rehabilitated from the offense 48
which is the subject of the petition. In those cases where the 49
court denies the petition, the findings of the court in this 50
respect shall be identified specifically and not generally. 51
(3) Upon entering an order of expunction under this section, 52
a nonpublic record thereof shall be retained by the Mississippi 53
Criminal Information Center solely for the purpose of determining 54
whether, in subsequent proceedings, the person is a first 55
offender. The order of expunction shall not preclude a district 56
attorney's office from retaining a nonpublic record thereof for 57
law enforcement purposes only. The existence of an order of 58
expunction shall not preclude an employer from asking a 59
prospective employee if the employee has had an order of 60
expunction entered on his behalf. The effect of the expunction 61
order shall be to restore the person, in the contemplation of the 62
law, to the status he occupied before any arrest or indictment for 63
which convicted. No person as to whom an expunction order has 64
been entered shall be held thereafter under any provision of law 65
to be guilty of perjury or to have otherwise given a false 66
statement by reason of his failure to recite or acknowledge such 67
arrest, indictment or conviction in response to any inquiry made 68
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ST: Embezzlement; revise the list of excluded
crimes for expungement.
of him for any purpose other than the purpose of determining, in 69
any subsequent proceedings under this section, whether the person 70
is a first offender. A person as to whom an order has been 71
entered, upon request, shall be required to advise the court, in 72
camera, of the previous conviction and expunction in any legal 73
proceeding wherein the person has been called as a prospective 74
juror. The court shall thereafter and before the selection of the 75
jury advise the attorneys representing the parties of the previous 76
conviction and expunction. 77
(4) Upon petition therefor, a justice, county, circuit or 78
municipal court shall expunge the record of any case in which an 79
arrest was made, the person arrested was released and the case was 80
dismissed or the charges were dropped or there was no disposition 81
of such case, or the person was found not guilty at trial. 82
(5) No public official is eligible for expunction under this 83
section for any conviction related to his official duties. 84
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 85
and after July 1, 2026. 86