MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2018 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B
By: Representative Faulkner
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 99-19-71, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT ANY FIRST TIME OFFENDER WHO IS CONVICTED OF A FELONY CRIME, OTHER THAN A CRIME OF VIOLENCE, IS ELIGIBLE FOR ONE FELONY EXPUNCTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 99-19-71, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-19-71. (1) Any person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor that is not a traffic violation, and who is a first offender, may petition the justice, county, circuit or municipal court in which the conviction was had for an order to expunge any such conviction from all public records.
(2) (a) Any person who has
been convicted of * * * any felony crime, other than a
crime of violence as defined under Section 97-32-2 and such person is a first
offender, may petition the court in which the conviction was had for an
order to expunge one (1) conviction from all public records * * * two (2) years after the
successful completion of all terms and conditions of the sentence * * *. A person is
eligible for only one (1) felony expunction under this paragraph.
(b) Any person who was under the age of twenty-one (21) years when he committed a felony may petition the court in which the conviction was had for an order to expunge one (1) conviction from all public records five (5) years after the successful completion of all terms and conditions of the sentence for the conviction; however, eligibility for expunction shall not apply to a felony classified as a crime of violence under Section 97-3-2 and any felony that, in the determination of the circuit court, is related to the distribution of a controlled substance and in the court's discretion it should not be expunged. A person is eligible for only one (1) felony expunction under this paragraph.
(c) The petitioner shall give ten (10) days' written notice to the district attorney before any hearing on the petition. In all cases, the court wherein the petition is filed may grant the petition if the court determines, on the record or in writing, that the applicant is rehabilitated from the offense which is the subject of the petition. In those cases where the court denies the petition, the findings of the court in this respect shall be identified specifically and not generally.
(3) Upon entering an order
of expunction under this section, a nonpublic record thereof shall be retained
by the Mississippi Criminal Information Center solely for the purpose of
determining whether, in subsequent proceedings, the person is a first
offender. The order of expunction shall not preclude a district attorney's
office from retaining a nonpublic record thereof for law enforcement purposes
only. The existence of an order of expunction shall * * * preclude an employer from asking a
prospective employee if the employee has had an order of expunction entered on
his behalf. The effect of the expunction order shall be to restore the person,
in the contemplation of the law, to the status he occupied before any arrest or
indictment for which convicted. No person as to whom an expunction order has
been entered shall be held thereafter under any provision of law to be guilty
of perjury or to have otherwise given a false statement by reason of his
failure to recite or acknowledge such arrest, indictment or conviction in
response to any inquiry made of him for any purpose other than the purpose of
determining, in any subsequent proceedings under this section, whether the
person is a first offender. A person as to whom an order has been entered,
upon request, shall be required to advise the court, in camera, of the previous
conviction and expunction in any legal proceeding wherein the person has been
called as a prospective juror. The court shall thereafter and before the
selection of the jury advise the attorneys representing the parties of the
previous conviction and expunction.
(4) Upon petition therefor, a justice, county, circuit or municipal court shall expunge the record of any case in which an arrest was made, the person arrested was released and the case was dismissed or the charges were dropped or there was no disposition of such case.
(5) No public official is eligible for expunction under this section for any conviction related to his official duties.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.