An effort to help potentially tens of thousands of Kentuckians truly put their past behind them cleared a key legislative milestone on Friday when the Kentucky House voted to broaden eligibility for criminal expungement.
Similar measures have passed the chamber numerous times, but there is hope that this year’s legislation will be successful, given the increased bipartisan support it has received.
In short, House Bill 40, which I am co-sponsoring, would make it possible for many citizens with a Class “D” felony on their record to have it expunged five years after completing all aspects of their punishment, just as we do now with misdemeanors and violations. Class “D” is the lowest of the four felony levels.
Those who had been convicted of a sexual offense or a crime involving abuse or neglect of an adult or child would not be eligible, and neither would those who have been convicted of or charged with another crime.
For those who do qualify, prosecutors and victims involved in the case would be notified as the court considers expungement. This legislation would also apply to those who were charged with a felony but not indicted by a grand jury, and expungement could include multiple Class “D” felonies if they occurred as part of the same crime.
If this were to become law, applicants would still have to provide full disclosure of their criminal record when otherwise required by state and federal law.
The main goal behind this bill is to give many Kentuckians a better chance to re-integrate into society after they complete their sentence and maintain a clean record during the waiting period. Many are still paying a price even decades after the original offense, and it is causing them to lose out on jobs, housing and other opportunities like volunteering in school.
The passage of that legislation may have been the chief highlight last week in the House, but there were other actions as well that, either directly or indirectly, will have an impact on the work legislators are trying to do.
On Thursday, for example, many gathered in the Capitol Rotunda as part of the 12th annual Children’s Advocacy Day. This event is designed to spotlight those areas where the state is making progress and where challenges remain.
One positive step we have taken is increasing the income eligibility for preschool this year, a move estimated to help up to 5,000 young children. Last year, we increased the age and height requirements for booster seats, and this year, a lot of focus will be on what more we can do through the state’s budget.
On a related education matter, the University of Kentucky’s Center for Business and Economic Research came out with a report this month underscoring just how far our schools have come since undertaking major reforms a little more than a quarter-century ago.
In 1990, we were near the bottom among the states in the percentage of adults 25 and older without a high school diploma or college degree. Now, we are exactly at the national average when it comes to the percentage of working adults having at least a high school degree, and we exceed the national average in the percentage having a two-year college degree.
When compiling those factors and several others – such as 4th and 8th grade scores in math, science and reading – the UK report says Kentucky outperforms eight states, trails 15 and is statistically similar to the remaining 26. While we are not satisfied with where we are, it is good to see just how far we have come in little more than a generation.
Next Monday, our nation is honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., for his advancement of civil rights in this country. He deserves tremendous accolades for all he did to further that cause.
As we near the one-fourth mark of this year’s 60-day legislative session, I want to thank those who have taken time to let me know their views. If you would like to join them, you can address correspondence to Room 329E, Capitol Annex, 702 Capitol Avenue, Frankfort, KY 40601; or you can email me at Mike.Denham@lrc.ky.gov.
To leave a message for me or for any legislator by phone, please call 800-372-7181. For those with a hearing impairment, the number is 800-896-0305.
I hope to hear from you soon.
State Rep. Mike Denham is a Democrat from Maysville and has represented House District 70 (Bracken, Fleming and Mason counties) since 2001.
The whole point of felony expungement is to “EXPUNGE” the felony. If it wasn’t a felony, there would be no real reason to expunge it. You don’t get a felony for “Not” breaking a law at one point in your life. After you have proven yourself to be a good citizen, you should be able to get that past erased. Yes, expungement of the felony should make you a “regular” citizen again with, a regular citizens rights. That means, voting rights, firearm rights, civil rights. IT means getting your life back. To let the employer know your past history defeats the main purpose of FELONY EXPUNGEMENT. Because “”””F E L O N S””” can’t get jobs. It’s not really all that hard to comprehend. It’s not Record Sealing, its expungement. Half the things Stivers is against is half of what constitutes a Class D felony. Assault on a police officer is not a non-violent felony. Fleeing a police officer while DUI, where no one was hurt, would be Non-Violent. Even Class D felons who have Govorners pardons, can’t get thier criminal records expunged. The system is broken. It also creates persistent felony offenders when those who would have been good productive citizens cant get work, housing, and food. They must resort to other avenues to support themselves.
If those in charge of bringing this expungement bill before a vote on Senate Judiciary Committee, continue to block it as they have in years past, even with such overwhelming support from public and private sectors , they should be removed from the committee. There should also be a Government website that lists each senator by name and, how that senator voted on a particular bill. Those senators who continually block this bill, should be VOTED OUT OF OFFICE. No matter how well the bill is written or how much support it has, if this issue is not addressed, the bill will not be passed as long as they are on that committee. There should be some branch of Senate Oversight that can deal with unethical issues like this. Some of us have already looked into this, and are trying to get this unethical behavior changed. http://klec.ky.gov/…/Pages/Conduct-of-Legislators.aspx
http://ethics.ky.gov/Pages/default.aspx
To see what others are saying about this bill. I suggest you click on the following links and see in depth, debate concerning this issue. I think you will find that the Senate Judiciary is misleading the public, when it comes to what a person can be charged with. For example, if prosecutors want to charge someone with a class B or class C felony instead of a class D felony, they can. If they think you are a danger to society, or if they think your actions go beyond the class D felony realm, you can bet you are going to get a higher charge than a class D felony. So no need in the public worrying about dangerous class D felons out there.. To see what other people are saying about KY HB40 class D expungement .http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/ky-legislature/2016/01/15/bill-redemption-felons-passes-house/78844980/ … … … http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article54903390.html … See the Comments sections.
What, Kentucky House Minority Caucus Chair Stan Lee, and Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders seemed incapable of understanding in their KET interview is this. They want the felonies to be available for the public and employers to see. That’s why people want them expunged, so people “CAN’T” see them. They make the argument that felons can get hired. Really? So all of those no call backs when the application goes into the potential employers trash can or the online applications that are deleted don’t count eh. Also, what is the point for a felon to go to college, get a degree or certification when the only kind of job they are going to get is, minimum wage labor, or ditch digging somewhere? They also mentioned, having the applications in Kentucky, not ask whether or not the person has a felony. But to leave the felony on the felons record where it can be searched with a background check. So what happens when the felons says they don’t have a felony if asked, and the employer does a background check, finds out they lied and terminates them? They had to lie otherwise they would have never been hired to begin with.
Not only that,if the felon wants to leave the state of Kentucky, and get a job in another State, the felony is still on their record. When that state does a background check, it’s going to pop that they are a felon in Kentucky. They will not be hired! And these politicians are the people who are in charge of our justice system and law making? These people seem to be so out of touch with reality and common sense that it’s pitiful. That is until you realize that their incompetence and resistance to change, are ruining people’s lives. They, and law makers like them need to learn to adapt to a changing world. Kentuckians and Americans in general are tired of the hard-line conservative’s stagnation, quagmires, and lack of progress. They are holding the rest of us hostage and in the dark ages. If they don’t fix this then, they need to go.
As a side note: That’s probably the reason Trump will be the new president. The people are tired of the same on B.S. and they’re pissed.