Senate Judiciary advances draft 4.1 of S.12 to expand record-sealing with limited use of concealed criminal history

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to confer with draft 4.1 of S.12, a 40-page bill to expand the number of offenses eligible for criminal-record sealing and to preserve limited uses of concealed criminal-history records in a defendant’s criminal proceeding.

Committee staff described two technical edits on page 26 and a corrected cross-reference; the bill’s language also clarifies that both defense counsel and pro se defendants may use certain concealed criminal-history information in court. "This is just a technical change that, Michelle, mentioned," a committee staff member said, and thanked "Ian" for his work on the draft.

The bill has been under development since 2018 and through negotiations beginning in 2021, and multiple committee members called the current draft a compromise. "This represents a compromise in the best sense, that that's been worked on since 2021, between the legislature and the administration," a committee member said. Another committee member said, "I'm excited to get this bill passed." A different committee member urged patience about imperfections in a long bill: "I think any 40 page bill isn't gonna be perfect. Everybody's gonna have a little different opinion on what isn't perfect for them."

Supporters described sealing as intended to improve employment and housing chances for people with eligible records and to correct gaps in recidivism data caused by prior expungement practices. "I just think it's a benefit to the public. It [is] a benefit to the people who do make the decision to get their life in order," a committee member said.

Committee members voted to confer with draft 4.1 and proceed with further instances of amendment. During the roll call portion included in the record, several members recorded "Yes" votes, including Nolan, Harvey, Oleg, Oliver, Karen, Christie and others. Committee leadership said the measure will likely move into further negotiations after this step; one member said they expect the bill to go to a conference-stage negotiation.

Members also discussed related scheduling: H.105 will be on the next day's agenda; the committee plans to hear from Michael Bridal at an upcoming meeting; and the committee chair said miscellaneous amendments will be scheduled for a vote the following morning so they can appear on the calendar for Friday.

The committee noted a related bill, S.45 (the right-to-farm bill), had passed out of agriculture with a 7-1 vote and that the committee may ask to be relieved of S.45 so the Agriculture Committee can report it to the floor. Committee staff said they will prepare the reporting materials and that additional amendments and a formal report will follow.

Next steps scheduled in the meeting record include posting the miscellaneous amendment for a morning vote, conducting a review by the reporting team, and proceeding to conference negotiations on the sealing bill as needed.

The committee discussion mixed technical drafting details and policy-level arguments about access to work and housing, and committee members repeatedly described the draft as the product of multi-year negotiations rather than a final version.