• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy

Kentucky Center for Economic Policy

   

  • About Us
  • Press Room
  • Events
  • Job Opportunities
  • Donate

Research That Works for Kentucky

  • Topics
    • Budget & Tax
    • Criminal Justice
    • Economic Security
    • Education
    • Health Care
    • Jobs & The Economy
  • Types
    • News
    • Op-Ed
    • Research

   

  • About Us
  • Press Room
  • Events
  • Job Opportunities
  • Donate

Copyright © 2021 KyPolicy Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Sitemap

Analysis

SB 57 an Important Step to Expand Felony Expungement

Ashley Spalding | March 11, 2019

SB 57, which is scheduled for a vote in the House tomorrow, would take another modest but important step toward making it easier for Kentuckians with a record to get a clean slate, find employment and move toward economic stability. The bill is a bright spot for criminal justice policy in Kentucky during a legislative session where many bills create new crimes and increase criminal penalties rather than needed reforms.

Felony expungement enables Kentuckians who made mistakes in the past and who have served their sentence to have a second chance. With the passage of HB 40 in 2016, Kentuckians with some felony convictions became eligible to have their records expunged for the first time; previously only misdemeanor convictions were eligible. This historic legislation was an important step forward, but the felony offenses eligible for expungement are limited and the cost to an individual is $500. These are among the likely reasons the number of people benefiting from felony expungement thus far (in the thousands) is low compared to the number of Kentuckians with a felony record (in the hundreds of thousands).

More On Criminal Justice: KY Jailer Concerned Over Proposed Budget Cuts, Policy Expert Weighs In

The version of SB 57 being voted on tomorrow would expand felony expungement eligibility in modest but important ways: The bill would:

  • Lower the cost of expungement to $200 — a $50 application fee and an additional $150 to complete the expungement — and allow for payment of the expungement fee by an installment plan.
  • Add a new offense related to drug paraphernalia to the list of felonies that are eligible for expungement after five years.
  • Create additional categories of offenses that are eligible for expungement after 10 years, including most Class D felonies (the lowest level) not previously eligible, excluding sex offenses and those resulting in serious bodily injury, among other categories. The House Speaker has filed a floor amendment to make the waiting period for these offenses just 5 years instead of 10, which would be a positive change.

The House version of SB 57 includes important changes to the Senate version making it easier to have a felony expunged. The Senate version had a much higher expungement fee ($450 plus a $50 application fee). Also, though judges already have the discretion to deny expungement for several reasons including for the safety of the public, the Senate version would put too high a legal burden on the applicant to prove their worthiness of expungement. It would weaken the impact of the bill if these problematic aspects come back as it moves through the process.

For many Kentuckians, a felony record is a barrier to employment and economic security for their families. More Kentuckians with records deserve a second chance, and SB 57 is an important step forward.

FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail

Primary Sidebar

Get KyPolicy news updates in your inbox

Sign Up

Sidebar

Perspectives

Kentucky Must Remove the Roadblocks to Unemployment Insurance — Our Most Important Economic Stabilizer

Many Kentuckians Face Hunger and Hardship This Thanksgiving. They Need Relief.

Kentucky Lives and Livelihoods Are on the Line with Supreme Court Challenge to ACA

Letter to Governor Beshear: Priorities for Use of Remaining Coronavirus Relief Fund Monies

Congress Can’t Go Home Without Passing a Strong Aid Package

Other Criminal Justice Items

Breonna Taylor Memorial Louisville Kentucky

Analysis

Banning No-Knock Warrants Is an Important First Step in Addressing Police Violence Through Demilitarization

Analysis

Waiver to Provide Substance Use Disorder Treatment to Incarcerated People Shouldn’t Increase Incarceration

Analysis

IDs Are a Necessity for Successful Reentry

Ky. Policy

Footer

Research that works for Kentucky

433 Chestnut Street, Berea, KY 40403

Phone: 859-756-4605

General information and inquiries: info@kypolicy.org

   

Help us make the facts free and accessible to everyone. That’s how Kentucky will thrive.

Donate

  • Topics
    • Budget & Tax
    • Criminal Justice
    • Economic Security
    • Education
    • Health Care
    • Jobs & The Economy
  • Work
    • News
    • Op-Ed
    • Research
  • About Us
  • Press Room
  • Contact

Get KyPolicy news updates in your inbox

Sign Up

Copyright © 2021 KyPolicy Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Sitemap

made by P&P
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you consent to the use of cookies.OkPrivacy policy