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Committee introduces amendment to Clean Slate Act to allow petitioning while fines remain unpaid
Summary
Representatives introduced RS32130 to allow people eligible under Idaho's Clean Slate Act to petition to seal qualifying low-level convictions even if outstanding fines remain; the committee introduced the request unanimously.
Representative Rubbel told the committee RS32130 is a narrow amendment to Idaho's Clean Slate Act to address a practical barrier faced by clinics and low-income petitioners: unpaid fines that prevent eligible people from petitioning to seal their records. Rubbel summarized the original law as covering very low-level nonviolent offenses — examples included littering and passing a stopped school bus — with eligibility rules such as five years without reoffending and completion of probation.
Rubbel said the proposed change would remove the requirement that fines be paid as a threshold for filing a petition. He emphasized that the amendment does not wipe out fines or fees: "So this does not in any way wipe out the fines or fees. It just says you can pursue the sealing and ... hopefully you'll be better able to pay it now if you can actually get a job."
Rubbel said clerks and courts asked that disclosures necessary for collection — for example to a collection agency — remain permitted; RS32130 therefore preserves any disclosure required to aid collection, while allowing petitioning to proceed. Committee members asked for concrete examples and Rubbel said he has case stories and clinic experiences that motivated the fix.
A motion to introduce RS32130 passed by voice vote and the committee unanimously introduced the amendment for later hearing.
