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Fairfax officials say 2021 expungement law still creates heavy, unfunded workload despite technical fixes
Summary
County sheriff, police and court staff told the legislative committee that technical amendments to 2021 expungement law ease some problems but do not address major staffing, technology and funding needs, and urged more time and state resources for implementation.
Fairfax County officials told the Board of Supervisors' Legislative Committee on Jan. 31 that technical amendments to the 2021 record-sealing and expungement law provide modest relief but do not resolve large implementation costs for local courts, law enforcement and the sheriff’s office.
The changes under review would push back some requirements and narrow the date range for records to be processed, but county staff said the core problem remains: local agencies must hire staff, convert legacy records and build new data flows without adequate state funding.
"It still doesn't address the key factor that has already been brought up, which is, just the great expansion of expungement and sealing of records without providing the necessary resources," said Katie Pavlicek, general counsel for the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office. "The Sheriff's Office has already endeavored to clear rooms in the adult detention center...…
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