SLS 19RS-349 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 98
BY SENATOR PRICE
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
CRIMINAL RECORDS. Provides relative to expungement. (8/1/19)
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 978(A)(2), (D), and (E)(1)(a), (b),
3 and (d) and (2), relative to expungement; to shorten the cleansing period after which
4 a person may seek an expungement of felony offense records under certain
5 circumstances; to provide additional conditions upon which expungement of certain
6 felony offenses may be granted by the court; and to provide for related matters.
7 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
8 Section 1. Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 978(A)(2), (D), and (E)(1)(a), (b), and
9 (d) and (2) are hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
10 Art. 978. Motion to expunge record of arrest and conviction of a felony offense
11 A. Except as provided in Paragraph B of this Article, a person may file a
12 motion to expunge his record of arrest and conviction of a felony offense if either of
13 the following apply:
14 * * *
15 (2) More than ten five years have elapsed since the person completed any
16 sentence, deferred adjudication, or period of probation or parole based on the felony
17 conviction, and the person has not been convicted of any other criminal offense
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1 during the ten-year five-year period, and has no criminal charge pending against
2 him. The motion filed pursuant to this Subparagraph shall include a certification
3 obtained from the district attorney which verifies that, to his knowledge, the
4 applicant has no convictions during the ten-year five-year period and no pending
5 charges under a bill of information or indictment.
6 * * *
7 D. Expungement of a record of arrest and conviction of a felony offense shall
8 occur only once with respect to any person during a fifteen-year ten-year period.
9 The limitation provided in this Paragraph shall not apply to a person who is seeking
10 the expungement of his record of arrest and conviction for a conviction that was set
11 aside and the prosecution dismissed pursuant to Article 893(E).
12 E.(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, after a
13 contradictory hearing, the court may order the expungement of the arrest and
14 conviction records of a person pertaining to a conviction of aggravated battery,
15 second degree battery, aggravated criminal damage to property, simple robbery,
16 purse snatching, or illegal use of weapons or dangerous instrumentalities if all of the
17 following conditions are proven by the petitioner:
18 (a) More than ten five years have elapsed since the person completed any
19 sentence, deferred adjudication, or period of probation or parole based on the felony
20 conviction.
21 (b) The person has not been convicted of any other criminal offense during
22 the ten-year five-year period.
23 * * *
24 (d) The person has been employed for a period of ten five consecutive years,
25 or can show that he has applied for positions of employment for sixty
26 consecutive months, or that because of some physical or mental impairment, as
27 established by a physician's statement, the person is not able to work.
28 (2) The motion filed pursuant to this Paragraph shall include a certification
29 from the district attorney which verifies that, to his knowledge, the applicant has no
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1 convictions during the ten-year five-year period and no pending charges under a bill
2 of information or indictment. The motion shall be heard by contradictory hearing as
3 provided by Article 980.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Alden A. Clement Jr.
DIGEST
SB 98 Original 2019 Regular Session Price
Present law provides that a person may file a motion to expunge his record of arrest and
conviction of a felony offense if more than 10 years have elapsed since the person completed
any sentence, deferred adjudication, or period of probation or parole based on the felony
conviction, and the person has not been convicted of any other criminal offense during that
10 year period, and has no criminal charge pending against him. Present law further provides
that the motion to expunge must include a certification obtained from the district attorney
that verifies that the applicant has no convictions during the 10-year period and no pending
charges under a bill of information or indictment.
Proposed law changes the "cleansing period" after which a person is eligible for an
expungement from 10 years to five years.
Proposed law otherwise retains present law.
Present law provides that expungement of a record of arrest and conviction of a felony
offense can occur only once with respect to any person during a 15-year period.
Proposed law changes the period of time during which an expungement can occur only once
from 15 years to 10 years.
Present law provides that, after a contradictory hearing, the court may order the
expungement of the arrest and conviction records of a person pertaining to a conviction of
aggravated battery, second degree battery, aggravated criminal damage to property, simple
robbery, purse snatching, or illegal use of weapons or dangerous instrumentalities if all of
the following conditions are proven by the petitioner:
(1)More than 10 years have elapsed since the person completed any sentence, deferred
adjudication, or period of probation or parole based on the felony conviction.
(2)The person has not been convicted of any other criminal offense during the 10-year
period.
(3)The person has no criminal charge pending against him.
(4)The person has been employed for a period of 10 consecutive years.
Present law further provides that the motion to expunge filed pursuant to present law must
include a certification from the district attorney that verifies that the applicant has no
convictions during the 10-year period and no pending charges under a bill of information or
indictment.
Proposed law changes the "cleansing period" after which a person convicted of certain
present law offenses may be eligible for an expungement from 10 years to five years. Present
law further provides that the person may also be eligible for an expungement if he can show
that he has applied for positions of employment for 60 consecutive months, or that because
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of some physical or mental impairment, as established by a physician's statement, the person
is not able to work.
Proposed law otherwise retains present law.
Effective August 1, 2019.
(Amends C.Cr.P. Art. 978(A)(2), (D), and (E)(1)(a), (b), and (d) and (2))
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.