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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1494
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR SCHROER.
6314S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To amend chapter 610, RSMo, by adding thereto three new sections relating to automatic
expungement.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 610, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto 1
three new sections, to be known as sections 610.141, 610.143, 2
and 610.144, to read as follows:3
610.141. 1. As used in this section, section 610.140, 1
and sections 610.143 and 610.144, unless the context 2
otherwise indicates, the following terms mean: 3
(1) "Automatic expungement", technology-assisted, 4
state-initiated bulk closing of records in the manner 5
established under section 610.120; 6
(2) "Central repository", the Missouri state highway 7
patrol central repository for compiling and disseminating 8
complete and accurate criminal history records; 9
(3) "Clean slate eligible offense", a misdemeanor or 10
felony not listed under subsection 3 of section 610.140 for 11
which an electronic record exists in the statewide court 12
automation case management system; 13
(4) "Close" or "closed", to make records inaccessible 14
to the general public and to all individuals other than the 15
defendant, except as provided under section 610.120 and 16
chapter 43; 17
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(5) "Expunge" or "expunged", to close a record in the 18
manner established under section 610.120, except the 19
provisions of subsection 2 of section 610.120 that require 20
documents to be retyped and rewritten, or blacked out and 21
recopied, if an agency determines that these provisions are 22
not feasible in relation to automatic expungement; 23
(6) "Final disposition", the date the person has 24
completed his or her incarceration, probation, or parole; 25
(7) "Petitioner", a person who has petitioned the 26
court to have his or her conviction or convictions expunged 27
or a person whose conviction or convictions have been 28
automatically expunged under this section; 29
(8) "Prosecuting agency", the prosecuting attorney, 30
circuit attorney, or municipal prosecuting attorney. 31
2. (1) Subject to the provisions in subdivision (2) 32
of subsection 3 of this section, all electronic records and 33
files maintained in the statewide court automation case 34
management system pertaining to clean slate eligible 35
offenses shall be closed in the manner established under 36
section 610.120 without the filing of a petition under 37
section 610.140 in the following cases, subject to the 38
limitations contained in subdivisions (2), (3), and (4) of 39
this subsection: 40
(a) For cases in which the imposition of sentence has 41
been suspended, if an individual has successfully completed 42
probation, so long as one year has passed since final 43
disposition and the individual has not committed any felony 44
or misdemeanor criminal offense in Missouri during that time; 45
(b) For misdemeanors, if one year has passed since 46
final disposition and the individual has not committed any 47
felony or misdemeanor criminal offense in Missouri during 48
that time; 49
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(c) For felony offenses, if three years have passed 50
since final disposition and the individual has not committed 51
any felony or misdemeanor criminal offense in Missouri 52
during that time; 53
(d) For all of an individual's offenses, if the 54
individual has attained sixty-five years of age and has not 55
been convicted of any misdemeanors or felonies in Missouri 56
other than a technical violation of the terms of his or her 57
probation or parole in the ten immediately preceding years; 58
or 59
(e) All offenses for which the governor of Missouri 60
has granted a full pardon. 61
(2) Records pertaining to juvenile adjudications or 62
offenses involving the operation of a motor vehicle are not 63
eligible for automatic expungement. 64
(3) No offense shall be eligible for automatic 65
expungement if a person has charges pending that have been 66
filed in a Missouri state court for which an individual has 67
not yet been sentenced during the period of review for clean 68
slate eligibility as described in subsection 3 of this 69
section. 70
(4) (a) An individual may be granted more than one 71
expungement under this section, except that during his or 72
her lifetime the total number of offenses for which 73
expungement can be granted to the individual under this 74
section or section 610.140 shall not exceed the following 75
limits: 76
a. No more than two felony offenses; and 77
b. No more than three misdemeanor offenses. 78
(b) If an individual's electronic record contains more 79
felonies or misdemeanors than can be expunged during the 80
individual's lifetime under paragraph (a) of this 81
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subdivision, the individual shall not be eligible for 82
automatic expungement under this section. 83
(c) For purposes of determining lifetime limits on 84
expungement under this section and section 610.140: 85
a. If the offenses were charged as counts in the same 86
case, all such offenses and violations shall count as only 87
the highest-level offense in that case for purposes of 88
determining lifetime limits on expungement under this 89
section and section 610.140. However, if one or more counts 90
in the same indictment or information or conduct committed 91
were a part of the same course of criminal conduct as an 92
offense listed in subsection 3 of section 610.140, the 93
entire record shall not be expunged under this section; 94
b. If the offenses were committed by an individual who 95
has attained sixty-five years of age and has not been 96
convicted of any misdemeanors or felonies in the immediate 97
ten preceding years in Missouri, all clean slate eligible 98
offenses shall be expunged; and 99
c. Only convictions contained within the statewide 100
court automation case management system shall be considered 101
when determining eligibility under this section. 102
(d) The court shall maintain records to ensure that a 103
person has not exceeded the limitations provided under this 104
subsection. Nothing in this section shall be construed to 105
limit or impair the subsequent use of any record maintained 106
by the court for the purpose of any law enforcement or 107
prosecutorial investigation or activity, including any 108
arrest or findings of guilt expunged under this section by a 109
law enforcement agency, criminal justice agency, prosecuting 110
attorney, circuit attorney, or municipal prosecuting 111
attorney, including its use as a prior offense in a 112
subsequent criminal or civil investigation or prosecution. 113
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3. (1) Beginning August 28, 2029, on a quarterly 114
basis, the office of state courts administrator shall 115
identify records that have become eligible in the last 116
quarter and transmit, or otherwise make accessible by 117
electronic means, to the central repository and every 118
prosecuting agency in the state all clean slate eligible 119
offense records within one hundred days of the record 120
becoming eligible for automatic expungement. 121
(2) All electronic records in the statewide court 122
automation case management system that become eligible for 123
automatic expungement on or after August 28, 2026, but 124
before August 29, 2029, shall be identified and expunged 125
before August 28, 2031, in a cadence to be determined by the 126
office of state courts administrator. 127
(3) Delinquent court costs, fines, fees, or other sums 128
ordered by a court, except restitution owed to a victim of a 129
crime, shall not be considered by the office of state courts 130
administrator when determining eligibility of a record for 131
automatic expungement under subsection 2 of this section. 132
However, the office of state courts administrator shall seek 133
a setoff of any income tax refund and lottery prize payouts 134
under section 488.5028 for all delinquent court costs, 135
fines, fees, or other sums ordered by a court relating to 136
convictions expunged under subsection 2 of this section. 137
(4) Each prosecuting agency in this state has no more 138
than sixty days from the day on which the notice described 139
in subdivision (1) of this subsection is transmitted, or 140
otherwise made accessible by electronic means, to object to 141
an automatic expungement and transmit such objection to the 142
office of state courts administrator and the central 143
repository. The prosecuting agency shall object to the 144
automatic expungement for any of the following reasons: 145
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(a) After reviewing the prosecuting agency's record, 146
the record does not meet the definition of a clean slate 147
eligible offense; 148
(b) The person has not paid court-ordered restitution 149
to the victim; or 150
(c) The person has charges pending against the person 151
in another case in Missouri. 152
(5) If a prosecuting agency objects for a reason 153
described in subdivision (4) of this subsection, within 154
sixty days of the day on which the notice described in 155
subdivision (1) of this subsection is transmitted, or 156
otherwise made accessible by electronic means, the record 157
shall not be expunged. 158
(6) The central repository has no more than sixty days 159
from the day on which the notice described in subdivision 160
(1) of this subsection is transmitted, or otherwise made 161
accessible by electronic means, to object to an automatic 162
expungement and transmit such objection to the office of 163
state courts administrator and the relevant prosecutors. 164
The central repository shall object to the automatic 165
expungement if the record does not meet the definition of a 166
clean slate eligible offense based on their available data. 167
(7) If the central repository objects for a reason 168
described in subdivision (6) of this subsection, within 169
sixty days of the day on which the notice described in 170
subdivision (1) of this subsection is transmitted, or 171
otherwise made accessible by electronic means, the record 172
shall not be expunged. 173
(8) If sixty days have passed without an objection 174
from a prosecuting agency or the central repository for one 175
of the reasons set forth under this subsection, the office 176
of state courts administrator shall transmit, or otherwise 177
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make accessible by electronic means, within fifteen days all 178
the records to be expunged, sorted by circuit, to the 179
presiding judges of every circuit court in Missouri. 180
(9) Within thirty days of receiving a notice to 181
expunge, the circuit court shall issue orders for 182
expungement of all records maintained in the circuit. 183
(10) On a quarterly basis, each circuit court shall 184
transmit, or otherwise make accessible by electronic means, 185
copies of all orders for expungement that the court issues 186
under this section to the office of state courts 187
administrator. 188
(11) Once the transmitted records are expunged, the 189
office of state courts administrator shall provide notice to 190
all state agencies maintaining official copies of the 191
records including, but not limited to, circuit court clerks, 192
prosecuting or circuit attorneys, law enforcement agencies, 193
the department of corrections, and the central repository 194
within thirty days. The records and files maintained by any 195
such persons or entities pertaining to expunged records 196
shall be held confidential from the date of expungement and 197
only made available to the people and for the purposes 198
outlined in subdivision (12) of this subsection. With 199
respect to any person including, but not limited to, a 200
consumer reporting agency or researcher, who purchases 201
records for information pertaining to criminal matters of 202
public record from the office of state courts administrator, 203
such office shall make available to the person information 204
concerning the criminal matters of public record that have 205
been expunged under this section. Such information shall 206
include docket numbers or other information sufficient to 207
permit the person to accurately identify and delete records 208
that have been expunged under this section. 209
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(12) (a) The Missouri state highway patrol shall 210
retain a nonpublic record of the order expunging a 211
conviction or other notification regarding a conviction that 212
was automatically expunged under this section and of the 213
record of the arrest, fingerprints, conviction, and sentence 214
of the person in the case to which the order or other 215
notification applies. The nonpublic record shall be made 216
available only to a court of competent jurisdiction, the 217
department of corrections, a law enforcement agency, a 218
prosecuting attorney, the attorney general, or the governor 219
upon request and only for the following purposes: 220
a. To show that a person who has filed a petition to 221
expunge a conviction has previously had a conviction 222
expunged under this section; 223
b. The court's consideration in determining the 224
sentence to be imposed upon conviction for a subsequent 225
offense that is punishable as a felony or by imprisonment 226
for more than one year; 227
c. Consideration by the governor if a person whose 228
conviction has been expunged applies for a pardon for 229
another offense; 230
d. Consideration by the department of corrections or a 231
law enforcement agency if a person whose conviction has been 232
expunged applies for employment with the department of 233
corrections or a law enforcement agency; 234
e. Consideration by a court, law enforcement agency, 235
prosecuting attorney, or the attorney general in determining 236
whether a person required to register under sections 589.400 237
to 589.425 has committed an offense that requires 238
registration under sections 589.400 to 589.425, or in 239
prosecuting a person for committing an offense requiring 240
registration under sections 589.400 to 589.425; 241
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f. Consideration by a court, law enforcement agency, 242
prosecuting attorney, or the attorney general for use in 243
making determinations regarding charges, plea offers, and 244
sentencing, as applicable; or 245
g. Consideration by any entity responsible for issuing 246
commercial driver's licenses for the purpose of meeting 247
state and federal requirements to obtain commercial driver's 248
licenses. 249
(b) A copy of the nonpublic record created under 250
paragraph (a) of this subdivision may be provided upon 251
request to the person whose conviction is expunged under 252
this section upon payment of a fee determined and charged by 253
the Missouri state highway patrol. 254
(c) The nonpublic record maintained under paragraph 255
(a) of this subdivision is exempt from disclosure under this 256
chapter. 257
(d) An entity shall not be liable for damages or 258
subject to criminal penalties for reporting a public record 259
of conviction that has been expunged by court order or 260
operation of law prior to August 28, 2029, if that record 261
was available as a public record on the date of the report. 262
4. Any court sentencing an individual for a clean 263
slate eligible offense shall provide the individual a 264
document outlining the state's clean slate expungement 265
program at the time of sentencing. 266
5. Any probation or parole office releasing an 267
individual from supervision for a clean slate eligible 268
offense shall provide the individual a document outlining 269
the state's clean slate expungement program at the time of 270
release. 271
6. The provisions of this section shall apply 272
retroactively to any arrest, charge, trial, or conviction 273
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for which there is an electronic record regardless of the 274
date that the arrest was made, the charge or charges were 275
brought, the trial occurred, or the conviction was entered. 276
7. Nothing in this section precludes an individual 277
from filing a petition for expungement of records under 278
section 610.140 if an individual is eligible for automatic 279
expungement under this section but such automatic 280
expungement has not yet occurred or cannot occur. 281
8. If it is determined that a conviction was 282
improperly or erroneously expunged under this section 283
because the conviction was not eligible to be expunged under 284
this section, the court shall, on its own motion, reinstate 285
the conviction. 286
9. (1) Upon the entry of an order under section 287
610.140, or upon the automatic expungement of a conviction 288
under this section, the petitioner is considered not to have 289
been previously convicted, except as provided under this 290
subsection and subsection 10 of section 610.140. 291
(2) The petitioner shall not be entitled to the 292
remission of any fine, costs, or other moneys paid as a 293
consequence of a conviction that is expunged. 294
(3) This section shall not affect the right of the 295
petitioner to rely upon the conviction to bar subsequent 296
proceedings for the same offense. 297
(4) This section shall not affect the right of a 298
victim of an offense to bring or defend a civil action for 299
damages. 300
(5) This section shall not create a right to commence 301
an action for damages for incarceration under the sentence 302
that the petitioner served before the conviction is expunged 303
under this section. 304
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(6) This section shall not relieve any obligation to 305
pay restitution owed to the victim of an offense nor shall 306
such section affect the jurisdiction of the court or the 307
authority of any court order with regard to enforcing an 308
order for restitution. 309
(7) A conviction, including any records relating to 310
the conviction and any records concerning a collateral 311
action, that has been expunged under this section shall not 312
be used as evidence in an action for negligent hiring, 313
admission, or licensure against any person. 314
(8) A conviction that is expunged under this section 315
or section 610.140 may be considered a prior conviction by a 316
court, law enforcement agency, prosecuting attorney, or the 317
attorney general, as applicable, for purposes of charging a 318
crime as a second or subsequent offense or for sentencing 319
under section 558.016. 320
10. The office of state courts administrator shall 321
collaborate with the Missouri state highway patrol to 322
establish and implement data-sharing procedures regarding 323
the information required under this section. 324
11. Any person eligible for expungement under this 325
section who has filed a petition for expungement under 326
section 610.140 shall be granted an expungement, subject to 327
subsection 3 of this section. 328
12. The provisions of this section shall become 329
effective upon the office of state courts administrator's 330
implementation of automatic expungement technology as 331
described in section 610.144. 332
610.143. 1. A credit bureau shall report records of 1
arrests, indictments pending trial, and convictions of 2
crimes for no longer than seven years from final 3
disposition. Records of arrests, indictments pending trial, 4
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and convictions of crimes shall no longer be reported if at 5
any time after a conviction it is learned that a full pardon 6
or expungement has been granted for that conviction, or at 7
any time after an arrest or indictment it is learned that a 8
conviction did not result. 9
2. Any credit bureau or user of information that 10
willfully fails to comply with any requirement of this 11
section with respect to any consumer is liable to that 12
consumer in an amount equal to: 13
(1) Any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a 14
result of the failure; 15
(2) Punitive damages as the court may allow; and 16
(3) In the case of any successful action under this 17
section, costs of the action and reasonable attorney's fees 18
as determined by the court. 19
3. Any credit bureau or user of information that is 20
negligent in failing to comply with any requirement of this 21
section with respect to any consumer is liable to that 22
consumer in an amount equal to: 23
(1) Any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a 24
result of the failure; and 25
(2) In the case of any successful action under this 26
section, costs of the action and reasonable attorney's fees 27
as determined by the court. 28
4. Injunctive relief shall be available to any 29
consumer aggrieved by a violation or a threatened violation 30
of this section regardless of whether the consumer seeks any 31
other remedy under this section. 32
5. An employer, volunteer organization, or landlord 33
who employs, qualifies, or otherwise engages an individual 34
whose criminal history record has been expunged shall be 35
immune from liability for any claim arising out of the 36
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misconduct of the individual if the misconduct relates to 37
the portion of the criminal history record that has been 38
expunged. 39
6. A person granted an expungement shall disclose any 40
expunged offense if the disclosure of such information is 41
necessary to complete any application for employment with 42
any: 43
(1) Federally insured bank or savings institution or 44
credit union or an affiliate of such institution or credit 45
union for the purpose of compliance with 12 U.S.C. Section 46
1829 and 12 U.S.C. Section 1785; or 47
(2) Entity engaged in the business of insurance or any 48
insurer for the purpose of complying with 18 U.S.C. Section 49
1033, 18 U.S.C. Section 1034, or other similar law that 50
requires an employer engaged in the business of insurance to 51
exclude applicants with certain criminal convictions from 52
employment. 53
7. The provisions of this section shall become 54
effective upon the office of state courts administrator's 55
implementation of automatic expungement technology as 56
described in section 610.144. 57
610.144. 1. (1) There is hereby created in the state 1
treasury the "Missouri Expungement Fund", which shall 2
consist of moneys deposited into the fund from any source 3
including, but not limited to, gifts, donations, grants, and 4
bequests. The state treasurer shall be custodian of the 5
fund. In accordance with sections 30.170 and 30.180, the 6
state treasurer may approve disbursements. The fund shall 7
be a dedicated fund and, upon appropriation, moneys in this 8
fund shall be used solely as provided in subsection 2 of 9
this section. 10
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(2) The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the 11
fund in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any 12
interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be 13
credited to the fund. 14
2. The office of state courts administrator, the 15
department of public safety, and the information technology 16
services division within the office of administration shall 17
expend moneys from the fund, upon appropriation, on the 18
statewide court automation case management system and the 19
Missouri criminal history record information system 20
established under sections 43.500 to 43.530 for one or more 21
of the following purposes: 22
(1) Expenses that may be incurred to develop, 23
establish, maintain, or operate any information technology 24
equipment, software, systems, or services associated with 25
the expungement or closing of records under Missouri law, 26
including the development and implementation of any 27
technology-assisted, state-initiated bulk expungement or 28
sealing of records under Missouri law; or 29
(2) The cost of necessary personnel or contractors. 30
The office of state courts administrator, the department of 31
public safety, and the information technology services 32
division within the office of administration shall each 33
receive one-third of any total amount appropriated from the 34
fund for a fiscal year. 35
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