Panel passes SB1140 as amended to expand misdemeanor expungement pathways with safeguards

The Senate Judiciary & Elections Committee passed SB1140 as amended, creating a court-reviewed pathway to expunge certain misdemeanor records beginning Jan. 1, 2027. Staff explained the bill allows eligible petitioners to seek expungement three years after arrest or nonconviction (and five years for shoplifting convictions under the sponsor’s amendment) while excluding serious offenses, DUI, domestic violence and cases that occurred alongside felony convictions.

Vincent Balanchila testified in favor, saying misdemeanor records impose employment and housing barriers and that expungement creates a pathway to stability: "This bill will give people the opportunity to have the pathway to success." John Mesa (CEO, Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network) said the bill would help survivors of trafficking who often carry low-level criminal records obtained while being exploited, arguing that stability is public safety.

The sponsor moved and the committee adopted a six-page sponsor amendment that applied a five-year waiting period for shoplifting convictions while maintaining a three-year period for eligible nonconviction cases. The committee then moved SB1140 as amended; the roll call recorded seven ayes and no noes and the bill passed the committee as amended.

What happens next: SB1140, as amended, advances to the Senate floor. Implementation will require courts to process petitions and provide required notifications to victims per the bill’s language; affected agencies and stakeholders should track any rulemaking that follows enactment.