SB 1494 - This act established procedures for the automatic expungement of certain criminal offenses. The act provides that all records pertaining to a person's clean slate eligible criminal offenses, as defined in the act, shall be expunged without the filing of a petition required under current law. The following cases shall be eligible for expungement under this act: 1. An individual received a suspended sentence, has completed probation, and one year has passed since the final disposition of the case and the individual has not committed a felony or misdemeanor in Missouri in that time; 2. For misdemeanors, one year has passed since the final disposition of a misdemeanor, and the individual has not committed a felony or misdemeanor in Missouri in that time; 3. For felonies, three years have passed since the final disposition of a felony offense and the individual has not committed a felony or misdemeanor in Missouri in that time; 4. An individual that has attained the age of sixty-five years and has not been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor in Missouri in the ten immediately preceding years; and 5. All offenses where the Governor of Missouri has granted a full pardon. Records of juvenile adjudications or offenses involving the operation of a motor vehicle are not eligible for automatic expungement under this act. A person shall not be granted an automatic expungement if the person has charges pending in a Missouri state court and the person has yet to be sentenced. A person can receive an automatic expungement under this act for no more than two felony offenses or no more than three misdemeanor offenses. This act provides that the court shall maintain records to ensure that a person has not exceeded the number of offenses for eligibility. Under this act, expunged records can still be used for the purpose of any law enforcement or prosecutorial investigation or activity. Such records can also be included as a prior offense in a subsequent criminal or civil investigation or prosecution. Beginning on August 28, 2029, the Office of State Courts Administrator shall, on a quarterly basis, identify records that have become eligible for expungement. This act provides that the Office of State Courts Administrator shall transmit all eligible offense records to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Central Repository and every prosecuting agency within one hundred days of its eligibility. All records identified for expungement by August 28, 2029, shall be expunged by August 28, 2031. Under this act, the Office of State Courts Administrator shall not consider delinquent court costs, fines, fees, or other moneys ordered by a court except restitution owed to a victim of a crime, when determining eligibility of a record for automatic expungement. However, the Office shall seek a setoff of any income tax refund and lottery prize payouts for any delinquent moneys owed. This act provides that when the Central Repository or a prosecuting agency receives notice of automatic expungement, they shall have no more than sixty days to object. If there is an objection based on reasons described in the act, the record shall not be expunged. If there is no objection, the records will be sent to the presiding judges of the circuit courts of Missouri. Under this act, when the presiding judge of a circuit court receives notice to expunge, the judge shall order expungement of all records maintained in the circuit within thirty days. This act provides that once a record has been expunged, the Office of State Courts Administrator shall provide notice to all state agencies that maintain official copies of the records. The files and records maintained by such agencies shall then be confidential and only made available to certain law enforcement entities, courts, or the Governor, upon request, and only for certain official purposes outlined in the act. The provisions of this act shall be applied retroactively to any arrest, charge, trial, or conviction for which there is an electronic record. Nothing in this act shall preclude a person from filing a petition for expungement of records under current law if the person is eligible for automatic expungement under this act, but such automatic expungement has not occurred or cannot occur. This act provides that automatic expungement does not relieve any obligation to pay restitution owed to a victim of an offense or prohibit a civil action by a victim. A conviction that has been expunged under this act shall not be used as evidence in an action for negligent hiring, admission, or licensure against any person. This act provides that a credit bureau shall report records of arrests, indictments pending trial, and convictions of crimes for no longer than seven years from the final disposition. Records of arrest, indictments pending trial, and convictions of crimes shall not be reported if at any time after a conviction it is learned that a full pardon or expungement has been granted, or an arrest or indictment did not result in a conviction. Under this act, a credit bureau that willfully fails to comply with a requirement of this act shall be liable to the consumer for actual damages, punitive damages, court costs, and attorneys' fees. A credit bureau that negligently fails to comply with a requirement of this act shall be liable to the consumer for actual damages, court costs, and attorneys' fees. An employer, volunteer organization, or landlord who employs or otherwise engages a person whose criminal history record has been expunged shall be immune from liability for any claim of misconduct of the person if the misconduct relates to the expunged record. This act provides that a person granted an expungement shall disclose any expunged offense if the disclosure is necessary to complete an application for employment with a federally insured bank, savings institution, credit union, or entity engaged in the business of insurance. This act creates the "Missouri Expungement Fund". Moneys in the Fund shall be used by the Office of State Courts Administrator, the Department of Public Safety, and the Information Technology Services Division of the Office of Administration on the statewide court automation case management system and the Missouri criminal history record information system. Moneys shall be used to develop and implement any technology-assisted, state-initiated bulk expungement or sealing of records under Missouri law. The Office of State Courts Administrator, the Department of Public Safety and the Information Technology Services Division within the Office of Administration shall each receive one-third of any total amount appropriated from the fund for a fiscal year. The provisions of this act shall only become effective upon the Office of State Courts Administrator's implementation of automatic expungement technology. TRISTAN BENSON, JR.