Legislative Column With Michael Meredith: Felony Expungement, Life Saving Provision Bills

by State Rep Michael Lee Meredith
​Resolution was the watchword in the House this week as committee assignments for the remaining 51 days of the 2016 Regular Session and beyond were announced for the chamber’s bipartisan membership.
 
The assignments were announced on Tuesday by the House Committee on Committees—a procedural committee that refers bill and resolutions to standing committees throughout the session. Once committee assignments were made, bills began to pass out of House standing committees.
 
Among those bills was House Bill 40, this session’s felony expungement bill that would allow the state’s courts to permanently seal the records of Kentuckians who have been convicted or accused but not formally charged with a low-level felony. The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill on a 15-3 vote Wednesday and sent the bill to the full House for consideration.
 
This is not the first time a felony expungement bill has surfaced in the House; similar bills have been introduced over the past 15 years. What may be different is the attention the proposal is receiving this time around. A bipartisan brigade of Kentuckians is supporting the language in 2016 HB 40. Governor Matt Bevin and Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes have both thrown their support behind the expungement provisions, as has Kentucky’s larger business community with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce leading the charge. The reasons for this support are many, with two in particular—building Kentucky’s workforce by giving low-level felons a second chance at success and reducing the state’s recidivism, or criminal relapse, rate (now at around 41 percent)—taking center stage.
 
Key provisions of HB 40 would allow expungement of felony charges that did not result in an indictment as well as low-level Class D felony convictions, and prohibit expunged convictions from being used in civil or administrative proceedings. Those who have committed sex crimes, crimes against children or vulnerable adults and certain other felons would not be eligible for expungement under the proposal. The bill would basically give eligible low-level felons the same expungement rights already available to Kentucky’s misdemeanor offenders.  The House passed HB 40 with strong bipartisan support on Friday morning.
 
Life-saving provisions in HB 97 also received the approval of the House Health and Welfare panel this week. If passed, HB 97 would give parents of newborns up to 30 days after the child is born to leave the child at a state-approved safe place if they feel they can’t keep the child.
 
Parents or those acting for them now have up to 72 hours after a child is born to leave the child at a hospital, police station, or other safe place under the state’s Kentucky Safe Infants Act. HB 97 would also allow churches or other places of worship to also participate as safe places, should they volunteer to do so and can accommodate the requirements of the law. Kentucky would become the fifth state to allow places of worship to serve as safe places for newborns according to committee testimony. 
 
Budget subcommittees started meeting this week, allowing House members to begin a formal review of agency budget requests for the next two state fiscal years. Budgets for all three branches of government and the state Road Fund will take shape in coming weeks as the subcommittees and the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee continue their work.
 
You can stay up-to-date on all legislative action of interest to you throughout the 2016 Regular Session by logging onto the Legislative Research Commission website at www.lrc.ky.gov or by calling the LRC toll-free Bill Status Line at 866-840-2835. For committee meeting schedules, please call the LRC toll-free Meeting Information Line at800-633-9650.  I can be reached through the toll-free message line in Frankfort at 1-800-372-7181, or you can contact me via e-mail at Michael.Meredith@lrc.ky.gov.

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