Expungement bill advances

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A committee recently gave its blessing to proposed legislation that would expand Wisconsin’s expungement law.

Assembly Bill 33 proposes expanding the state’s law for expungement, which is the removal of certain criminal convictions from the state’s online court records.

The current law has certain requirements that criminal defendant must meet in order to be eligible for expungement, including that the crimes to be expunged were committed before the offender was 25 and that the crimes are felonies or misdemeanors that have a maximum prison sentences of less than six years. Expungement also can only occur during sentencing proceedings.

Assembly Bill 33 calls for removing the age limitation and for letting offenders who had not previously obtained a court order for expungement to petition a court to have a record expunged after they have completed their sentences.

The bill also specifies that employers cannot ask potential employees for information convictions that a court has expunged and that expunged crimes are not convictions for employment purposes.

The Assembly’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety committee voted 10-1 Thursday morning to recommend AB 33 for adoption. Lawmakers also unanimously approved an amendment making some drafting tweaks and clarifications, including defining a record as a criminal case file.

The committee also gave its blessing to AB 28 and AB 35.

AB 28 proposes adding protections to statements victims make in criminal cases. Committee lawmakers voted 7-5 to recommend adoption.

AB 34 proposes requiring that a $5,000 surcharge be imposed on people who are convicted of soliciting or patronizing prostitutes, keeping a prostitution place and pandering. The committee voted 8-4 to recommend the legislation for passage. Lawmakers also approved an amendment that clarifies that the people must be sentenced for the crimes, not just fined. The committee also rejected committee Democrats’ proposal to decrease the surcharge to $500.

All three bills next head to the full Assembly for a vote. Follow @erikastrebel