Amendment ID: S2090-76-R2

2nd Redraft Amendment 76

Expungment of Class D Possession

Mr. Boncore, Ms. Chang-Diaz, Mr. Montigny and Ms. Forry move to amend the bill by inserting after section 30 the following section:-               

“SECTION 30A. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly requires otherwise:-

“Expunge”, “expunged” or “expungement”, the permanent erasure and destruction of records.

(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a court of competent jurisdiction may order expungement of records of or related to a charge if the court determines that the charge was for conduct that is no longer a crime under chapter 334 of the acts of 2016.

Upon notice to the district attorney and after a hearing in which the person seeking expungement shall be permitted to present evidence and be represented by counsel, the court shall determine whether expungement is warranted under this section. If the court finds that expungement is warranted, the court shall order expungement of the records and immediately provide a copy of the order and findings of fact to the commissioner of probation.

The commissioner of probation shall expunge the court appearance and disposition recorded in the commissioner's files and the clerk and the probation officers of the courts in which the proceedings occurred or were initiated shall expunge the records of the proceedings from their files. An individual or entity including, but not limited to, a criminal justice agency, as defined section 167 of chapter 6 of the General Laws, shall not have access to criminal offender record information related to an expunged charge.

The court shall order the expungement of entries contained in any daily log made pursuant to section 98F of chapter 41 of the General Laws that directly pertain to a case expunged pursuant to this section.

A record that directly pertains to a case expunged under this section that is in the care, custody and control of another agency, department, commission or entity shall not be a public record under clause Twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4 of the General Laws.”.