STATE OF NEW YORK
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180
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 7, 2015
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Introduced by Sen. DIAZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to establishing
the earned amnesty act of 2015; and providing for the repeal of such
provisions upon expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 "the earned amnesty act of 2015".
3 § 2. The criminal procedure law is amended by adding a new section
4 440.75 to read as follows:
5 § 440.75 Petition for expungement of records for the innocent, dismissed
6 cases, and the falsely arrested.
7 1. Except as provided for in this section, any person who has been
8 previously convicted of any offense under the laws of this state and who
9 has not been convicted of any prior or subsequent offense in this state,
10 another state, or by the United States may, after the expiration of a
11 period of ten years from the date of his or her conviction, satisfactory
12 completion of his or her probation, parole, supervised release and paid
13 any fines imposed or restitution ordered, whichever is later, may pres-
14 ent a verified petition to the criminal term of the supreme court in the
15 county of conviction or the county court in the county of conviction
16 seeking an order that such conviction and all records and information
17 pertaining thereto be expunged.
18 2. (a) A copy of the petition for expungement together with a copy of
19 all supporting documents shall be served upon:
20 (i) the district attorney serving the county of conviction;
21 (ii) the superintendent of the state police and the police department
22 in the jurisdiction of conviction;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01591-01-5
S. 180 2
1 (iii) the judge or justice who imposed sentence or if not serving the
2 administrative or supervising judge in the jurisdiction where the
3 conviction was entered; and
4 (iv) the victim of the offense sought to be expunged.
5 (b) Within ninety days of the filing of the petition, if there is no
6 objection from the law enforcement agencies notified or from those
7 offices or agencies required to be served and the petitioner is not
8 disqualified from obtaining an order of expungement, the court may grant
9 an order directing the clerk of the court and all relevant criminal
10 justice and law enforcement agencies to expunge all records of said
11 disposition including, but not limited to all evidence of arrest,
12 detention, conviction, sentence and proceedings related thereto.
13 (c) In the event none of the persons or agencies required to be noti-
14 fied pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision, has filed any writ-
15 ten objection to the relief sought, the court may nonetheless deny the
16 relief sought if it concludes by a preponderance of the evidence that
17 the petitioner is not entitled to relief if:
18 (i) any statutory prerequisite is not fulfilled or there is any other
19 basis for denying relief;
20 (ii) the conviction sought to be expunged at the time of the hearing
21 is the subject of civil litigation between petitioner and the state or
22 any political subdivision thereof;
23 (iii) petitioner has had any previous criminal conviction expunged in
24 this or any other state; or
25 (iv) the court finds that petitioner has either not been rehabilitated
26 or that the order of expungement is not in the interest of justice.
27 (d) The court may conditionally grant an order of expungement based
28 upon the performance of community service. For a conviction of a:
29 (i) class B felony, the petitioner shall complete five hundred hours
30 of community service;
31 (ii) class C felony, the petitioner shall complete three hundred hours
32 of community service;
33 (iii) class D felony, the petitioner shall complete two hundred hours
34 of community service;
35 (iv) class E felony, the petitioner shall complete one hundred hours
36 of community service;
37 (v) class A misdemeanor, the petitioner shall complete fifty hours of
38 community service; and
39 (vi) class B misdemeanor, the petitioner shall complete twenty-five
40 hours of community service.
41 (e) Upon receiving satisfactory proof that the imposed term of commu-
42 nity service has been performed and the district attorney has verified
43 the performance the court may grant a final order of expungement.
44 3. Records of conviction for the following offenses specified by the
45 penal law and the vehicle and traffic law shall not be subject to
46 expungement pursuant to this section:
47 (a) all class A felonies;
48 (b) all violent felony offenses;
49 (c) all violations of article one hundred thirty of the penal law for
50 which a defendant was required to register under article six-C of the
51 correction law;
52 (d) all crimes committed by a person holding any public office posi-
53 tion or employment elective or appointive under the government of this
54 state or any agency or political subdivision if the offense of
55 conviction involved the office or position of employment.
S. 180 3
1 4. Every petition for expungement filed pursuant to this section shall
2 be verified under the penalty of perjury and shall include:
3 (a) petitioner's date of birth;
4 (b) petitioner's date of arrest;
5 (c) the section of law under which the petitioner was convicted;
6 (d) the original indictment, superior court information or complaint;
7 (e) a certificate of disposition with the seal of the court from the
8 court of conviction; and
9 (f) the name of the judge or justice who imposed the sentence.
10 5. This section shall apply to convictions which occurred prior to and
11 which are entered subsequent to the effective date of this section.
12 6. The chief judge of the court of appeals shall annually file a
13 report with the governor, the speaker and minority leader of the assem-
14 bly and the temporary president and minority leader of the senate on or
15 before May first for the preceding calendar year reporting by judicial
16 district upon the number of expungement applications filed and their
17 dispositions.
18 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
19 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law and shall expire
20 December 31, 2019 when upon such date the provisions of this act shall
21 be deemed repealed.
