Expunction; reduce waiting period for eligibility.

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To: Judiciary, Division B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Simmons (12th)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 2228

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 99-19-71, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REVISE EXPUNCTION OF CRIMINAL RECORD BY REDUCING THE WAITING 2
PERIOD FOR ELIGIBILITY; 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 16
records * * * three (3) years after the successful completion of 17
all terms and conditions of the sentence for the conviction upon a 18
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hearing as determined in the discretion of the court; however, a 19
person is 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; 35
(ix) Abuse, neglect or exploitation of a 36
vulnerable person as provided in Section 43-47-19; or 37
(x) Embezzlement as provided in Sections 97-11-25 38
and 97-23-19. 39
A person is eligible for only one (1) felony expunction under 40
this paragraph. For the purposes of this section, the terms "one 41
(1) conviction" and "one (1) felony expunction" mean and include 42
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all convictions that arose from a common nucleus of operative 43
facts as determined in the discretion of the court. 44
(b) The petitioner shall give ten (10) days' written 45
notice to the district attorney before any hearing on the 46
petition. In all cases, the court wherein the petition is filed 47
may grant the petition if the court determines, on the record or 48
in writing, that the applicant is rehabilitated from the offense 49
which is the subject of the petition. In those cases where the 50
court denies the petition, the findings of the court in this 51
respect shall be identified specifically and not generally. 52
(3) Upon entering an order of expunction under this section, 53
a nonpublic record thereof shall be retained by the Mississippi 54
Criminal Information Center solely for the purpose of determining 55
whether, in subsequent proceedings, the person is a first 56
offender. The order of expunction shall not preclude a district 57
attorney's office from retaining a nonpublic record thereof for 58
law enforcement purposes only. The existence of an order of 59
expunction shall not preclude an employer from asking a 60
prospective employee if the employee has had an order of 61
expunction entered on his behalf. The effect of the expunction 62
order shall be to restore the person, in the contemplation of the 63
law, to the status he occupied before any arrest or indictment for 64
which convicted. No person as to whom an expunction order has 65
been entered shall be held thereafter under any provision of law 66
to be guilty of perjury or to have otherwise given a false 67
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ST: Expunction; reduce waiting period for
eligibility.
statement by reason of his failure to recite or acknowledge such 68
arrest, indictment or conviction in response to any inquiry made 69
of him for any purpose other than the purpose of determining, in 70
any subsequent proceedings under this section, whether the person 71
is a first offender. A person as to whom an order has been 72
entered, upon request, shall be required to advise the court, in 73
camera, of the previous conviction and expunction in any legal 74
proceeding wherein the person has been called as a prospective 75
juror. The court shall thereafter and before the selection of the 76
jury advise the attorneys representing the parties of the previous 77
conviction and expunction. 78
(4) Upon petition therefor, a justice, county, circuit or 79
municipal court shall expunge the record of any case in which an 80
arrest was made, the person arrested was released and the case was 81
dismissed or the charges were dropped or there was no disposition 82
of such case, or the person was found not guilty at trial. 83
(5) No public official is eligible for expunction under this 84
section for any conviction related to his official duties. 85
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 86
and after July 1, 2026. 87