Judiciary committee backs task force to study restoration of voting rights

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to report Senate Concurrent Resolution 89, directing the establishment of a task force to examine restoration of voting rights and related expungement issues.

Senator Jimmy Higdon, sponsor of the resolution, said the measure requests a work group during the interim to study the restoration process established after 2020 and to consider further refinements. He described the group as typical interim work to examine existing pathways and recommend changes.

President Stivers and other senators urged the task force to consider marijuana-related convictions and other expungement anomalies. Stivers referenced prior legislative efforts, including a substitute that created an expungement ``legal fiction— and suggested the panel examine convictions that may now be for conduct that is legal. Senator Higdon said he would be open to adding marijuana-related charges to the task force—s scope and suggested many such convictions are already covered by current expungement law but acknowledged some may merit automatic relief.

Members also discussed other technical expungement issues, including certain misdemeanors that remain difficult to remove and federal convictions that may raise equity questions. Senator Wheeler said he would vote aye out of respect for the sponsor but expressed reservations about wholesale restoration without an application process.

The committee adopted the resolution on a voice and roll-call motion moved by Senator Carroll and seconded by President Stivers. The resolution was reported favorably with the expression of opinion and will proceed to the full Senate. Senators and sponsors indicated a willingness to coordinate with a concurrently filed expungement resolution and with the attorney general's office on technical language.