Changes proposed to Senate Bill No. 47, would affect Indiana expungement laws

Previously, we reported on three bills affecting Indiana’s law on sealing criminal records. On January 17, 2020, the Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law approved changes to one of those bills, Senate Bill No. 47.

In its original form, S.B. 47 would amend IC 35-38-9-2 to provide that if a court reduces a Class D/Level 6 felony to a misdemeanor the five-year waiting period for expungement begins on the date of the felony conviction rather than the date the felony was converted to a misdemeanor. This amendment remains part of S.B. 47.

The following additions have been made to the bill.

Criminal expungement

In addition to the amendment noted above, S.B. 47 would make two changes to IC 35-38-9 on sealing and expunging conviction records.

• The bill would amend IC 35-38-9-10 to allow a law enforcement agency to inquire about a job applicant’s expunged records and refuse to employ the person. (This change is the subject of S.B. 22 authored by Sen. Philip Boots of Crawfordsville. Sen. Boots is added as an author to S.B. 47.)
• S.B. 47 would also add a new section to the conviction expungement law, specifying the procedure to expunge records of a “collateral action” entered in a different county than the county that issued the expungement order. A collateral action is a proceeding that is related to an arrest, criminal charge, or conviction, and includes such things proceedings for specialized driving privileges and civil forfeitures.

Protection order cases

S.B. 47 now also addresses expungement in connection with protection order cases.

• The bill adds a new section to the Civil Protection Order Act, IC 34-26-5, providing for automatic expungement of a petition for an order of protection that has been denied after July 1, 2020.
• It also amends the law on petitions to expunge protection orders, IC 34-26-7.5, to add a definition for “protection order records” and to make the law applicable to a petition for a protection order that was filed but not granted by the court.
• Finally, S.B. 47 prohibits companies that provide background checks from including expunged protection order records in criminal history reports. It does this by amending IC 24-4-18-1 to add civil protection orders and protection order records to the definition of “criminal history information.”

S.B. 47 would be effective on passage.

Check back for updates on these proposed changes to Indiana’s expungement laws.

Dan McNamara is a litigation attorney with Fletcher Van Gilder LLP in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His practice includes work with clients in all Indiana counties in having their criminal records sealed. He can be reached at 260 425-9777 mcnamara@fvglaw.com