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Panel advances bill to waive $110 filing fee for record annulments after dismissals
Summary
Senate Bill 512 would eliminate the $110 court filing fee for people whose charges were dismissed or who were found not guilty; sponsors framed it as correcting a financial injustice, and the committee put the bill on consent.
Senate Bill 512, introduced by Senator Keith Murphy, would eliminate the $110 filing fee currently charged to people who petition to annul arrest records after a dismissal or a not‑guilty verdict. Murphy and other backers said the fee unfairly penalizes people who were not convicted and that the fiscal impact is minimal.
Murphy described personal experience with the fee and told the committee that the Senate amended the bill to narrow its scope so that only those whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted in court would be eligible for a fee waiver. Committee members asked whether the judiciary had opposed the change; Murphy said communications took place but no testimony opposed the amended version in the Senate.
In executive session the committee voted to move SB512 to the consent calendar; the clerk recorded the committee consent vote. Supporters described the measure as a modest change that would restore fairness without a material fiscal effect.
If enacted, courts would implement the fee waiver for eligible petitions to annul records; the committee placed the bill on consent for the next steps in the legislative process.
