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EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1356
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR WASHINGTON.
4755S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 610.120 and 610.140, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections
relating to criminal records.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 610.120 and 610.140, RSMo, are 1
repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be 2
known as sections 610.120 and 610.140, to read as follows:3
610.120. 1. Except as otherwise provided under 1
section 610.124, records required to be closed shall [not] 2
be destroyed within six months of being closed; [they] the 3
record of arrest shall be closed and shall be inaccessible 4
to the general public and to all persons other than the 5
defendant except as provided in this section and chapter 6
43. [Closed records shall be available to: criminal justice 7
agencies for the administration of criminal justice pursuant 8
to section 43.500, criminal justice employment, screening 9
persons with access to criminal justice facilities, 10
procedures, and sensitive information; to law enforcement 11
agencies for issuance or renewal of a license, permit, 12
certification, or registration of authority from such agency 13
including but not limited to watchmen, security personnel, 14
and private investigators; those agencies authorized by 15
chapter 43 and applicable state law when submitting 16
fingerprints to the central repository; the sentencing 17
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advisory commission created in section 558.019 for the 18
purpose of studying sentencing practices in accordance with 19
chapter 43; to qualified entities for the purpose of 20
screening providers defined in chapter 43; the department of 21
revenue for driver license administration; the department of 22
public safety for the purposes of determining eligibility 23
for crime victims' compensation pursuant to sections 595.010 24
to 595.075, department of health and senior services for the 25
purpose of licensing and regulating facilities and 26
regulating in-home services provider agencies and federal 27
agencies for purposes of criminal justice administration, 28
criminal justice employment, child, elderly, or disabled 29
care, and for such investigative purposes as authorized by 30
law or presidential executive order.] 31
2. [These records shall be made available only for the 32
purposes and to the entities listed in this section. A 33
criminal justice agency receiving a request for criminal 34
history information under its control may require positive 35
identification, to include fingerprints of the subject of 36
the record search, prior to releasing closed record 37
information.] Dissemination of closed and open records from 38
the Missouri criminal records repository shall be in 39
accordance with section 43.509. All records which are 40
closed records shall be removed from the records of the 41
courts, administrative agencies, and law enforcement 42
agencies which are available to the public [and shall be 43
kept in separate records which are to be held confidential 44
and, where possible, pages of the public record shall be 45
retyped or rewritten omitting those portions of the record 46
which deal with the defendant's case]. If [retyping or 47
rewriting] destruction of the record is not feasible because 48
of the permanent nature of the record books, such record 49
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entries shall be blacked out [and recopied in a confidential 50
book]. 51
610.140. 1. For the purposes of this section, the 1
following terms mean: 2
(1) "Court", any Missouri municipal, associate 3
circuit, or circuit court; 4
(2) "Crime", any offense, violation, or infraction of 5
Missouri state, county, municipal, or administrative law; 6
(3) "Prosecutor" or "prosecuting attorney", the 7
prosecuting attorney, circuit attorney, or municipal 8
prosecuting attorney. 9
2. (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and 10
subject to the provisions of this section, any person may 11
apply to any court in which such person was charged or found 12
guilty of any crimes for an order to expunge records of such 13
arrest, plea, trial, or conviction. 14
(2) Subject to the limitations of subsection 13 of 15
this section, a person may apply to have one or more crimes 16
expunged if each such crime occurred within the state of 17
Missouri and was prosecuted under the jurisdiction of a 18
Missouri court, so long as such person lists all the crimes 19
he or she is seeking to have expunged in the petition and so 20
long as all such crimes are not excluded under subsection 3 21
of this section. 22
(3) If the crimes sought to be expunged were committed 23
as part of the same course of criminal conduct, the person 24
may include all such related crimes in the petition, 25
regardless of the limits of subsection 13 of this section, 26
and those related crimes shall only count as the highest 27
level for the purpose of determining current and future 28
eligibility for expungement. 29
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3. The following crimes shall not be eligible for 30
expungement under this section: 31
(1) Any class A felony offense; 32
(2) Any dangerous felony as that term is defined in 33
section 556.061; 34
(3) Any offense that requires registration as a sex 35
offender; 36
(4) Any felony offense where death is an element of 37
the offense; 38
(5) Any felony offense of assault; misdemeanor or 39
felony offense of domestic assault; or felony offense of 40
kidnapping; 41
(6) Any offense listed, previously listed, or is a 42
successor to an offense in chapter 566 or section 105.454, 43
105.478, 115.631, 130.028, 188.030, 188.080, 191.677, 44
194.425, 217.385, 334.245, 375.991, 389.653, 455.085, 45
455.538, 557.035, 565.120, 565.130, 565.156, 566.093, 46
566.111, 566.115, 566.116, 568.020, 568.030, 568.032, 47
568.045, 568.060, 568.065, 568.175, 569.040, 569.050, 48
569.055, 569.060, 569.065, 569.067, 569.072, 569.160, 49
570.025, 570.090, 570.180, 570.223, 570.224, 570.310, 50
571.020, 571.060, 571.063, 571.070, 571.072, 571.150, 51
573.200, 573.205, 574.070, 574.105, 574.115, 574.120, 52
574.130, 574.140, 575.040, 575.095, 575.153, 575.155, 53
575.157, 575.159, 575.195, 575.200, 575.210, 575.220, 54
575.230, 575.240, 575.353, 577.078, 577.703, 577.706, or 55
632.520; 56
(7) Any offense eligible for expungement under section 57
610.130; 58
(8) Any intoxication-related traffic or boating 59
offense as defined in section 577.001, or any offense of 60
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operating an aircraft with an excessive blood alcohol 61
content or while in an intoxicated condition; 62
(9) Any ordinance violation that is the substantial 63
equivalent of any offense that is not eligible for 64
expungement under this section; 65
(10) Any violation of any state law or county or 66
municipal ordinance regulating the operation of motor 67
vehicles when committed by an individual who has been issued 68
a commercial driver's license or is required to possess a 69
commercial driver's license issued by this state or any 70
other state; and 71
(11) Any offense of section 571.030, except any 72
offense under subdivision (1) of subsection 1 of section 73
571.030 where the person was convicted or found guilty prior 74
to January 1, 2017, or any offense under subdivision (4) of 75
subsection 1 of section 571.030. 76
4. The petition shall name as defendants all law 77
enforcement agencies, courts, prosecuting or circuit 78
attorneys, central state repositories of criminal records, 79
or others who the petitioner has reason to believe may 80
possess the records subject to expungement for each of the 81
crimes listed in the petition. The court's order of 82
expungement shall not affect any person or entity not named 83
as a defendant in the action. 84
5. The petition shall include the following 85
information: 86
(1) The petitioner's: 87
(a) Full name; 88
(b) Sex; 89
(c) Race; 90
(d) Driver's license number, if applicable; and 91
(e) Current address; 92
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(2) Each crime for which the petitioner is requesting 93
expungement; 94
(3) The approximate date the petitioner was charged 95
for each crime; and 96
(4) The name of the county where the petitioner was 97
charged for each crime and if any of the crimes occurred in 98
a municipality, the name of the municipality for each crime; 99
and 100
(5) The case number and name of the court for each 101
crime. 102
6. The clerk of the court shall give notice of the 103
filing of the petition to the office of the prosecuting 104
attorney that prosecuted the crimes listed in the petition. 105
If the prosecuting attorney objects to the petition for 106
expungement, he or she shall do so in writing within thirty 107
days after receipt of service. Unless otherwise agreed upon 108
by the parties, the court shall hold a hearing within sixty 109
days after any written objection is filed, giving reasonable 110
notice of the hearing to the petitioner. If no objection 111
has been filed within thirty days after receipt of service, 112
the court may set a hearing on the matter and shall give 113
reasonable notice of the hearing to each entity named in the 114
petition. At any hearing, the court may accept evidence and 115
hear testimony on, and may consider, the following criteria 116
for each of the crimes listed in the petition for 117
expungement: 118
(1) At the time the petition is filed, it has been at 119
least three years if the offense is a felony, or at least 120
one year if the offense is a misdemeanor, municipal 121
violation, or infraction, from the date the petitioner 122
completed any authorized disposition imposed under section 123
557.011 for each crime listed in the petition; 124
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(2) At the time the petition is filed, the person has 125
not been found guilty of any other misdemeanor or felony, 126
not including violations of the traffic regulations provided 127
under chapters 301, 302, 303, 304, and 307, during the time 128
period specified for the underlying crime in subdivision (1) 129
of this subsection; 130
(3) The person has satisfied all obligations relating 131
to any such disposition, including the payment of any fines 132
or restitution; 133
(4) The person does not have charges pending; 134
(5) The petitioner's habits and conduct demonstrate 135
that the petitioner is not a threat to the public safety of 136
the state; and 137
(6) The expungement is consistent with the public 138
welfare and the interests of justice warrant the expungement. 139
A pleading by the petitioner that such petitioner meets the 140
requirements of subdivisions (5) and (6) of this subsection 141
shall create a rebuttable presumption that the expungement 142
is warranted so long as the criteria contained in 143
subdivisions (1) to (4) of this subsection are otherwise 144
satisfied. The burden shall shift to the prosecuting 145
attorney or circuit attorney to rebut the presumption. A 146
victim of a crime listed in the petition shall have an 147
opportunity to be heard at any hearing held under this 148
section. A court may find that the continuing impact of the 149
offense upon the victim rebuts the presumption that 150
expungement is warranted. 151
7. A petition to expunge records related to an arrest 152
for an eligible crime may be made in accordance with the 153
provisions of this section to a court of competent 154
jurisdiction in the county where the petitioner was arrested 155
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no earlier than eighteen months from the date of arrest; 156
provided that, during such time, the petitioner has not been 157
charged and the petitioner has not been found guilty of any 158
misdemeanor or felony offense. 159
8. If the court determines that such person meets all 160
the criteria set forth in subsection 6 of this section for 161
each of the crimes listed in the petition for expungement, 162
the court shall enter an order of expungement. In all cases 163
under this section, the court shall issue an order of 164
expungement or dismissal within six months of the filing of 165
the petition. A copy of the order of expungement shall be 166
provided to the petitioner and each entity possessing 167
records subject to the order, and, upon receipt of the 168
order, each entity shall [close] destroy any record, except 169
the arrest record, in its possession relating to any crime 170
listed in the petition, in the manner established by section 171
610.120. The records and files maintained in any 172
administrative or court proceeding in a municipal, 173
associate, or circuit court for any crime ordered expunged 174
under this section shall be confidential and only available 175
to the parties or by order of the court for good cause 176
shown. The central repository shall request the Federal 177
Bureau of Investigation to expunge the records from its 178
files. 179
9. The order shall not limit any of the petitioner's 180
rights that were restricted as a collateral consequence of 181
such person's criminal record, and such rights shall be 182
restored upon issuance of the order of expungement. Except 183
as otherwise provided under this section, the effect of such 184
order shall be to fully restore the civil rights of such 185
person to the status he or she occupied prior to such 186
arrests, pleas, trials, or convictions as if such events had 187
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never taken place. This includes fully restoring the civil 188
rights of a person to the right to vote, the right to hold 189
public office, and to serve as a juror. For purposes of 18 190
U.S.C. Section 921(a)(33)(B)(ii), an order of expungement 191
granted pursuant to this section shall be considered a 192
complete removal of all effects of the expunged conviction. 193
Except as otherwise provided under this section, the effect 194
of such order shall be to restore such person to the status 195
he or she occupied prior to such arrests, pleas, trials, or 196
convictions as if such events had never taken place. No 197
person as to whom such order has been entered shall be held 198
thereafter under any provision of law to be guilty of 199
perjury or otherwise giving a false statement by reason of 200
his or her failure to recite or acknowledge such arrests, 201
pleas, trials, convictions, or expungement in response to an 202
inquiry made of him or her and no such inquiry shall be made 203
for information relating to an expungement, except the 204
petitioner shall disclose the expunged crime to any court 205
when asked or upon being charged with any subsequent crime. 206
The expunged crime may be considered a prior offense in 207
determining a sentence to be imposed for any subsequent 208
offense that the person is found guilty of committing. 209
10. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 9 of 210
this section to the contrary, a person granted an 211
expungement shall disclose any expunged crime when the 212
disclosure of such information is necessary to complete any 213
application for: 214
(1) A license, certificate, or permit issued by this 215
state to practice such individual's profession; 216
(2) Any license issued under chapter 313 or permit 217
issued under chapter 571; 218
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(3) Paid or unpaid employment with an entity licensed 219
under chapter 313, any state-operated lottery, or any 220
emergency services provider, including any law enforcement 221
agency; 222
(4) Employment with any federally insured bank or 223
savings institution or credit union or an affiliate of such 224
institution or credit union for the purposes of compliance 225
with 12 U.S.C. Section 1829 and 12 U.S.C. Section 1785; 226
(5) Employment with any entity engaged in the business 227
of insurance or any insurer for the purpose of complying 228
with 18 U.S.C. Section 1033, 18 U.S.C. Section 1034, or 229
other similar law which requires an employer engaged in the 230
business of insurance to exclude applicants with certain 231
criminal convictions from employment; or 232
(6) Employment with any employer that is required to 233
exclude applicants with certain criminal convictions from 234
employment due to federal or state law, including 235
corresponding rules and regulations. 236
An employer shall notify an applicant of the requirements 237
under subdivisions (4) to (6) of this subsection. 238
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, an 239
expunged crime shall not be grounds for automatic 240
disqualification of an applicant, but may be a factor for 241
denying employment, or a professional license, certificate, 242
or permit; except that, a crime expunged under the 243
provisions of this section may be grounds for automatic 244
disqualification if the application is for employment under 245
subdivisions (4) to (6) of this subsection. 246
11. A person who has been granted an expungement of 247
records pertaining to a crime may answer "no" to an 248
employer's inquiry into whether the person has ever been 249
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arrested, charged, or convicted of a crime if, after the 250
granting of the expungement, the person has no public record 251
of a crime. The person, however, shall answer such an 252
inquiry affirmatively and disclose his or her criminal 253
convictions, including any offense expunged under this 254
section or similar law, if the employer is required to 255
exclude applicants with certain criminal convictions from 256
employment due to federal or state law, including 257
corresponding rules and regulations. 258
12. If the court determines that the petitioner has 259
not met the criteria for any of the crimes listed in the 260
petition for expungement or the petitioner has knowingly 261
provided false information in the petition, the court shall 262
enter an order dismissing the petition. Any person whose 263
petition for expungement has been dismissed by the court for 264
failure to meet the criteria set forth in subsection 6 of 265
this section may not refile another petition until a year 266
has passed since the date of filing for the previous 267
petition. 268
13. A person may be granted more than one expungement 269
under this section provided that during his or her lifetime, 270
the total number of crimes for which orders of expungement 271
are granted to the person shall not exceed the following 272
limits: 273
(1) Not more than three misdemeanor offenses or 274
ordinance violations that have an authorized term of 275
imprisonment; and 276
(2) Not more than two felony offenses. 277
A person may be granted expungement under this section for 278
any number of infractions. Nothing in this section shall be 279
construed to limit or impair in any way the subsequent use 280
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of any record expunged under this section of any arrests or 281
findings of guilt by a law enforcement agency, criminal 282
justice agency, prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney, 283
including its use as a prior crime. 284
14. The court shall make available a form for pro se 285
petitioners seeking expungement, which shall include the 286
following statement: "I declare under penalty of perjury 287
that the statements made herein are true and correct to the 288
best of my knowledge, information, and belief.". 289
15. Nothing in this section shall be construed to 290
limit or restrict the availability of expungement to any 291
person under any other law. 292
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