More criminal convictions could soon start being cleared from records of people who have completed their sentences.
The House on Thursday evening preliminarily approved H.534, which expands the charges eligible to be sealed, including most misdemeanors and some felonies.
“Once people have done their time and paid their dues, quite literally, after a certain amount of time, their likelihood of recommitting a crime becomes the same as the general public,” said Rep. Selene Colburn, P-Burlington, who presented the legislation on the House floor.
“The collateral consequences of a criminal record,” Colburn added, “can prevent people from accessing employment, housing, education or even from supervising a child’s field trip or coaching their Little League team.”
The legislation passed the House on voice vote, and still needs to pass a third and final reading, which is expected, before heading to the Senate for consideration.
All misdemeanor convictions, except for violent crimes, would be eligible for sealing under the legislation. Some felonies, including property crimes and certain drug offenses, would become eligible for sealing as well.
A person would not be eligible to seal a record until completing their sentence and waiting an additional three years for most misdemeanors and seven years for the eligible felonies.
The bill would create a “one-track” process for clearing convictions by making sealing more like expungement, which wipes out convictions. The bill aims to reduce the reasons and the time period in which access to sealed records would be allowed.
Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, on the House floor on Thursday said she was concerned about drug sale offenses, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, and the amounts involved that would become eligible for sealing.
Colburn responded that the legislation targets lower-level drug sale offenses and those resulting from a person’s own substance use disorder. A judge would still need to sign off on a sealing petition after finding doing so would be in the “interest of justice,” Colburn said.
Rep. Charles Kimbell, D-Woodstock, said on the House floor just before the vote that he supported the legislation. He said that he saw it as a workforce development initiative by removing barriers for people seeking employment or advancing careers who have turned their lives around.
“At this point, we need all hands on deck,” Kimbell said.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Bill to expand eligibility to seal criminal history moves forward.
