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AN ACT relating to expungement. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 431.073 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) Any person who has been: 4
(a) Convicted of a Class D felony violation of KRS 17.175, 186.990, 194A.505, 5
194B.505, 217.181, 217.207, 217.208, 218A.140, 218A.1415, 218A.1416, 6
218A.1417, 218A.1418, 218A.1423, 218A.1439, 218A.282, 218A.284, 7
218A.286, 218A.320, 218A.322, 218A.324, 218A.500, 244.165, 286.11-057, 8
304.47-025, 324.990, 365.241, 434.155, 434.675, 434.850, 434.872, 511.040, 9
512.020, 514.030, 514.040, 514.050, 514.060, 514.065, 514.070, 514.080, 10
514.090, 514.100, 514.110, 514.120, 514.140, 514.150, 514.160, 516.030, 11
516.060, 516.090, 516.108, 517.120, 518.040, 522.040, 524.100, 525.113, 12
526.020, 526.030, 528.020, 528.040, 528.050, 530.010, or 530.050; 13
(b) Convicted of a series of Class D felony violations of one (1) or more statutes 14
enumerated in paragraph (a) of this subsection arising from a single incident; 15
(c) Granted a full pardon; or 16
(d) Convicted of a Class D felony, or an offense prior to January 1, 1975 which 17
was punishable by not more than five (5) years' incarceration, which was not a 18
violation of KRS 189A.010, 508.032, or 519.055, abuse of public office, a sex 19
offense, or an offense committed against a child, and did not result in serious 20
bodily injury or death; or of multiple[a series of] felony offenses eligible 21
under this paragraph; 22
may file with the court in which he or she was convicted an application to have the 23
judgment vacated. The application shall be filed as a motion in the original criminal 24
case. The person shall be informed of the right at the time of adjudication. 25
(2) (a) A verified application to have the judgment vacated under this section shall be 26
filed no sooner than five (5) years after the completion of the person's 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS HB 369/GA
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sentence, or five (5) years after the successful completion of the person's 1
probation or parole, whichever occurs later. 2
(b) Upon the payment of the filing fee and the filing of the application, the Circuit 3
Court clerk shall serve a notice of filing upon the office of the 4
Commonwealth's attorney or county attorney that prosecuted the case and the 5
county attorney of the county where the judgment was entered. The office of 6
the Commonwealth's attorney or county attorney that prosecuted the case 7
shall file a response within sixty (60) days after being served with the notice 8
of filing. That time period may be extended for good cause, but the hearing on 9
the application to vacate the judgment shall occur no later than one hundred 10
twenty (120) days following the filing of the application. The inability to 11
determine the location of the crime victim shall constitute good cause for an 12
extension of time. No hearing upon the merits of the application shall be 13
scheduled until the Commonwealth's response has been filed, or if no 14
response is received, no later than one hundred twenty (120) days after the 15
filing of the application. 16
(c) In any case in which the Commonwealth objects that the application is grossly 17
incomplete, the court shall order the person or agency originating the 18
application to supplement the application. 19
(3) Upon the filing of the Commonwealth's response to an application, or if no 20
response is received, no later than one hundred twenty (120) days after the filing of 21
the application, the court shall set a date for a hearing and the Circuit Court clerk 22
shall notify the office of the Commonwealth's attorney or county attorney that 23
prosecuted the case. The office of the Commonwealth's attorney or county attorney 24
that prosecuted the case shall notify the victim of the crime, if there was an 25
identified victim. The Commonwealth's attorney or county attorney shall be 26
authorized to obtain without payment of any fee information from the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS HB 369/GA
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Transportation Cabinet regarding the crime victim's address on file regarding any 1
vehicle operator's license issued to that person. 2
(4) (a) In an application pursuant to subsection (1)(d) of this section, upon the filing 3
of the Commonwealth's response objecting to the vacating of a judgment and 4
expungement of a record, the court shall schedule a hearing within one 5
hundred twenty (120) days of the Commonwealth's response. The prosecutor 6
shall specify in the objection the reasons for believing a denial of the 7
application is justified. At the hearing at which the applicant or his or her 8
attorney must be present, the applicant must prove by clear and convincing 9
evidence that: 10
1. Vacating the judgment and expunging the record is consistent with the 11
welfare and safety of the public; 12
2. The action is supported by his or her behavior since the conviction or 13
convictions, as evidenced that he or she has been active in rehabilitative 14
activities in prison and is living a law-abiding life since release; 15
3. The vacation and expungement is warranted by the interests of justice; 16
and 17
4. Any other matter deemed appropriate or necessary by the court to make 18
a determination regarding the petition for expungement is met. 19
(b) At the hearing, the applicant may testify as to the specific adverse 20
consequences he or she may be subject to if the application is denied. The 21
court may hear testimony of witnesses and any other matter the court deems 22
proper and relevant to its determination regarding the application. The 23
Commonwealth may present proof of any extraordinary circumstances that 24
exist to deny the application. A victim of any offense listed in the application 25
shall have an opportunity to be heard at any hearing held under this section. 26
(c) If the court determines that circumstances warrant vacation and expungement 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS HB 369/GA
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and that the harm otherwise resulting to the applicant clearly outweighs the 1
public interest in the criminal history record information being publicly 2
available, then the original conviction or convictions shall be vacated and the 3
records shall be expunged. The order of expungement shall not preclude a 4
prosecutor's office from retaining a nonpublic record for law enforcement 5
purposes only. 6
(5) The court may order the judgment vacated, and if the judgment is vacated the court 7
shall dismiss with prejudice any charges which are eligible for expungement under 8
subsection (1) of this section or KRS 431.076 or 431.078, and, upon full payment of 9
the fee in subsection (11) of this section, order expunged all records in the custody 10
of the court and any records in the custody of any other agency or official, including 11
law enforcement records, if the court finds that: 12
(a) [The person had not, after June 27, 2019, had a felony conviction vacated and 13
the record expunged pursuant to this section; 14
(b) ]The person had not in the five (5) years prior to the filing of the application 15
to have the judgment vacated been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor; 16
(b)[(c)] No proceeding concerning a felony or misdemeanor is pending or being 17
instituted against the person; and 18
(c)[(d)] For an application pursuant to subsection (1)(d) of this section, the 19
person has been rehabilitated and poses no significant threat of recidivism. 20
(6) If the court has received a response from the office of the Commonwealth's attorney 21
or county attorney that prosecuted the case stating no objection to the application to 22
have the judgment vacated, or if one hundred twenty (120) days have elapsed since 23
the filing of the application and no response has been received from the victim or 24
the office of the Commonwealth's attorney or county attorney that prosecuted the 25
case, the court may, without a hearing, vacate the judgment in the manner 26
established in subsection (5) of this section. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS HB 369/GA
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(7) Upon entry of an order vacating and expunging a conviction, the original conviction 1
shall be vacated and, upon full payment of the fee in subsection (11) of this section, 2
the record shall be expunged. The court and other agencies shall cause records to be 3
deleted or removed from their computer systems so that the matter shall not appear 4
on official state-performed background checks. The court and other agencies shall 5
reply to any inquiry that no record exists on the matter. The person whose record is 6
expunged shall not have to disclose the fact of the record or any matter relating 7
thereto on an application for employment, credit, or other type of application. If the 8
person is not prohibited from voting for any other reason, the person's ability to 9
vote shall be restored and the person may register to vote. 10
(8) An order vacating a conviction under this section shall not extend or revive an 11
expired statute of limitations, shall not constitute a finding of legal error regarding 12
the proceedings leading to or resulting in the conviction, shall not nullify any 13
findings of fact or conclusions of law made by the trial court or any appellate court 14
regarding the conviction, and shall not constitute a finding of innocence regarding 15
the conviction. 16
(9) The Administrative Office of the Courts shall establish a form application to be 17
used in filing an application to have judgment vacated and records expunged. 18
(10) The filing fee for an application to have judgment vacated and records expunged 19
shall be fifty dollars ($50), which shall be deposited into a trust and agency account 20
for deputy clerks and shall not be refundable. 21
(11) (a) Upon the issuance of an order vacating and expunging a conviction pursuant 22
to this section, the applicant shall be charged an expungement fee of two 23
hundred fifty dollars ($250), which may be payable by an installment plan in 24
accordance with KRS 534.020. 25
(b) When the order is issued, the court shall set a date, no sooner than eighteen 26
(18) months after the date of the order, by which the defendant must comply 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS HB 369/GA
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with the installment payment plan. The applicant shall be given notice of the 1
total amount due, the payment frequency, and the date by which all payments 2
must be made. The notice shall state that the expungement cannot be 3
completed until full payment is received, and that if the applicant has not 4
completed the installment payment plan by the scheduled date, he or she shall 5
appear on that date to show good cause as to why he or she is unable to satisfy 6
the obligations. Notwithstanding provisions of KRS 534.020 to the contrary, 7
no applicant shall be ordered to jail for failure to complete an installment plan 8
ordered pursuant to this section. 9
(c) The revenues and interest from the expungement fee shall be deposited in the 10
expungement fund created in KRS 431.0795. 11
(12) This section shall be retroactive. 12
Section 2. KRS 610.330 is amended to read as follows: 13
(1) (a) Any child who has been adjudicated as coming within the purview of KRS 14
Chapter 630, 635, or 645, but not KRS Chapter 620 or 640, may petition the 15
court for the expungement of offenses from his or her juvenile court record. 16
He or she shall be informed of such right at the time of adjudication. 17
(b) The court on its own motion, or on the motion of a probation officer of the 18
court, a representative of the Department of Juvenile Justice or the cabinet, or 19
any other interested person, may initiate expungement proceedings 20
concerning the record of any child who has been under the jurisdiction of the 21
court. 22
(c) Expungement shall not be granted if: 23
1. There are any proceedings pending or being instituted against the child; 24
2. The offense is a sex crime, as defined in KRS 17.500; or 25
3. The offense would classify a person as a violent offender under KRS 26
439.3401. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS HB 369/GA
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(2) A petition may seek the expungement from the juvenile court record of any status 1
offenses, or any public offenses which would be felonies, misdemeanors, or 2
violations if committed by an adult[: 3
(a) Misdemeanors, violations, or status offenses; 4
(b) A single felony; or 5
(c) A series of felonies arising from a single incident]. 6
(3) The petition shall be filed or the court order entered no sooner than two (2) years 7
after the date of termination of the court's jurisdiction over the person, or two (2) 8
years after his or her unconditional release from commitment to the Department of 9
Juvenile Justice or the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or a public or private 10
agency, except that the two (2) year period may be waived if the court finds that 11
such extraordinary circumstances exist with regard to the petitioner as to make the 12
waiver advisable. 13
(4) Upon the filing of a petition or entering of a court order, the court shall set a date 14
for a hearing and shall notify the county attorney and anyone else whom the court 15
or the child, his or her parents, relatives, guardian, or custodian has reason to 16
believe may have relevant information related to the expungement of the record. 17
(5) The court may order the adjudication vacated and all records expunged in the 18
petitioner's case in the custody of the court and any of these records in the custody 19
of any other agency or official, including law enforcement and public or private 20
elementary and secondary school records, unless at the hearing the county attorney 21
establishes that the child or offense is ineligible for expungement under subsections 22
(1) to (4) of this section. 23
(6) Upon the entry of an order to expunge the records, the proceedings in the case shall 24
be deemed never to have occurred and all index references shall be deleted and the 25
person and court may properly reply that no record exists with respect to such 26
person upon any inquiry in the matter. The person whose record is expunged shall 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS HB 369/GA
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not have to disclose the fact of the record or any matter relating thereto on an 1
application for employment, credit, or other type of application. 2
(7) If a court dismisses a petition against a child or finds a child not delinquent in a 3
juvenile proceeding, the court shall concurrently order the record of the proceeding 4
expunged. The order expunging the proceedings shall not require any action by the 5
child. 6
(8) Copies of the order shall be sent to each agency or official named therein. 7
(9) Inspection of the records included in the order may thereafter be permitted by the 8
court only upon petition by the person who is the subject of such records, and only 9
to those persons named in such petition. 10