H.F. 2413 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 692C.1 Criminal records —— seal. 1 1. As used in this section: 2 a. “Conviction” means a conviction for a criminal offense 3 and includes a guilty plea or deferred judgment but does not 4 include a conviction for an offense classified as a simple 5 misdemeanor punishable as a scheduled violation or a similar 6 offense. 7 b. “Criminal history data” means the same as defined in 8 section 692.1. 9 c. “Employer” means a person engaged in a business who 10 has one or more employees, agents, or contract employees. 11 “Employer” includes the armed forces of the United States, the 12 Iowa army national guard, and the Iowa air national guard. 13 “Employer” also includes an organization with volunteers. 14 d. “Seal” means to physically and electronically maintain 15 the record, but to make the record unavailable to the public 16 without a court order and to remove the petitioner’s name from 17 any official record accessible to the public that is maintained 18 by the department of public safety or the judicial branch 19 including removal of all criminal history data relating to the 20 conviction from any official record accessible to the public. 21 2. Ten years after being discharged from a sentence for a 22 conviction of a criminal offense, a person may file a petition 23 requesting the court to seal records relating to the conviction 24 for the criminal offense if all of the following apply: 25 a. The person has not been convicted of a criminal offense, 26 other than a simple misdemeanor punishable as a scheduled 27 violation or a similar offense, in the period of time between 28 the conviction of the offense and the time of the filing of the 29 petition. 30 b. The person has no pending criminal charges. 31 c. All restitution, civil penalties, court costs, fines, 32 fees, or other financial obligations ordered relating to the 33 conviction have been paid in full. 34 d. The criminal offense was not a violent offense 35 -1- LSB 5878YH (4) 84 jm/rj 1/ 7

H.F. 2413 directed at another person such as but not limited to murder, 1 manslaughter, homicide, assault, arson in the first degree, 2 sexual abuse, robbery, burglary in the first or second degree, 3 kidnapping, or an attempt to commit such a criminal offense. 4 3. For each criminal offense for which the request seeks to 5 seal records, the petition must contain all of the following: 6 a. The date of arrest. 7 b. The arresting law enforcement agency. 8 c. The case number assigned. 9 d. The date of discharge from the sentence. 10 4. The petition shall be filed in the county where the 11 criminal offense occurred. If the petition contains a request 12 to seal a criminal offense committed in more than one county, 13 the petition shall be heard in the county where the majority 14 of convictions occurred. 15 5. The petitioner shall provide notice of the petition to 16 the prosecutorial office that prosecuted the criminal offense 17 and the department of public safety. 18 6. The prosecutorial office that prosecuted the criminal 19 offense shall have sixty days from the date of notification to 20 file an objection to the petition. 21 7. If the prosecutorial office objects to the petition, the 22 court may, but is not required to, conduct a hearing on the 23 petition and hear any evidence deemed appropriate by the court. 24 8. If no objection is filed and upon a showing of good 25 cause that the offense was not a violent offense directed at 26 another person, the court shall order all records relating to 27 the conviction listed in the petition sealed. 28 9. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, upon 29 entry of an order sealing records pursuant to this section, 30 the judicial branch shall seal all records relating to the 31 conviction including the arrest information and the order 32 sealing the records. The judicial branch shall remove such 33 records from public access including removal from the Iowa 34 court information system. 35 -2- LSB 5878YH (4) 84 jm/rj 2/ 7

H.F. 2413 10. The clerk of the district court shall notify the 1 department of public safety of the order sealing all records 2 relating to the conviction. Upon notification of the order 3 sealing all records relating to the conviction, the department 4 of public safety shall seal the criminal history data and 5 other related records including the order sealing the records, 6 and shall not disclose the criminal history data pursuant to 7 a request under section 692.2, subsection 1, paragraph “b” , 8 unless a criminal history data check is required by an employer 9 as a matter of law. 10 11. If the department of public safety receives a request 11 for criminal history data pursuant to section 692.2, subsection 12 1, paragraph “b” , the department of public safety shall not 13 disseminate the criminal history data and other related records 14 including the order sealing the records if the records are 15 under seal unless a criminal history data check is required 16 by an employer as a matter of law. The response by the 17 department of public safety relating to a request shall be 18 indistinguishable from the response the department would 19 provide to a request for a criminal history data check for 20 a person with no criminal history data unless the person has 21 criminal history data that is not sealed. 22 12. a. An application for employment used by an employer 23 which seeks information concerning prior arrests or convictions 24 of the applicant shall include the following statement: 25 An applicant for employment with a sealed record may answer 26 “no record” with respect to any inquiry relating to arrests, 27 criminal court appearances, or convictions, for which the 28 records are sealed. 29 b. This subsection does not apply to an employer required by 30 law to conduct a criminal history data check on an applicant. 31 c. Notwithstanding this subsection, an applicant who applies 32 for a position with an employer that requires a criminal 33 history data check as a matter of law shall be required to 34 disclose the arrest, criminal court appearance, or conviction 35 -3- LSB 5878YH (4) 84 jm/rj 3/ 7

H.F. 2413 if required by law. 1 13. The sealing of a record related to a conviction 2 pursuant in this section shall not be construed to prevent the 3 conviction to be counted as a previous offense for purposes of 4 prosecution and sentencing. 5 Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect January 1, 6 2013. 7 Sec. 3. RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY. This Act applies 8 retroactively to a conviction for a criminal offense committed 9 on or after January 1, 1993. 10 EXPLANATION 11 This bill relates to the sealing of a criminal record. 12 Under the bill, 10 years after being discharged from a 13 sentence for a conviction of a criminal offense, a person 14 may petition the court requesting the court to seal records 15 relating to the conviction of the offense if all of the 16 following apply: the person has not been convicted of a 17 criminal offense, other than a simple misdemeanor punishable 18 as a scheduled violation or similar offense, in the period of 19 time between the conviction of the offense and the time of the 20 filing of the petition; the person has no pending criminal 21 charges; all restitution, civil penalties, court costs, fines, 22 fees, or other financial obligations ordered relating to the 23 conviction have been paid in full; the offense was not a 24 violent offense directed at another person such as but not 25 limited to murder, manslaughter, homicide, assault, arson in 26 the first degree, sexual abuse, burglary in the first or second 27 degree, kidnapping, or an attempt to commit such an offense. 28 The bill requires the petition to seal a criminal record 29 to contain all of the following: the date of arrest for each 30 offense, the arresting law enforcement agency, the case number 31 assigned to each offense requested to be sealed, and the date 32 of discharge from the sentence for each case. 33 The bill requires the petitioner to notify the prosecutorial 34 office that prosecuted the criminal offense and the department 35 -4- LSB 5878YH (4) 84 jm/rj 4/ 7

H.F. 2413 of public safety that a petition to seal a criminal record has 1 been filed. 2 The bill specifies the prosecutorial office that prosecuted 3 the case shall have 60 days from the date of the notification 4 to file an objection to the petition. 5 Under the bill, if the prosecutorial office objects to the 6 petition, the court may, but is not required to, conduct a 7 hearing on the petition and hear any evidence that is deemed 8 appropriate by the court. 9 If no objection to the petition is filed and upon a showing 10 of good cause, the bill requires the court to order all the 11 records relating to the conviction listed in the petition 12 sealed. 13 Upon the issuance of an order sealing the records relating 14 to a conviction, the bill requires the judicial branch to seal 15 all records relating to a conviction including the arrest 16 information and the order sealing the record, and to remove 17 such records from public access including removal from the Iowa 18 court information system. 19 The bill requires the clerk of the district court to notify 20 the department of public safety of the order sealing all 21 records relating to the conviction. Upon notification of the 22 order sealing all records relating to the conviction, the bill 23 requires the department of public safety to seal the criminal 24 history data and other related records including the order 25 sealing the records. The bill specifies that the department 26 of public safety shall not disclose the criminal history data 27 pursuant to a criminal history data check under Code section 28 692.2(1)(b) unless a criminal history data check is required by 29 an employer as a matter of law. 30 If the department of public safety receives a request for 31 criminal history data pursuant to Code section 692.2(1)(b), the 32 department shall not disseminate the criminal history data and 33 other related records including the order sealing the records 34 if such records are under seal unless a criminal history data 35 -5- LSB 5878YH (4) 84 jm/rj 5/ 7

H.F. 2413 check is required by an employer as a matter of law. The bill 1 specifies that the response by the department of public safety 2 relating to a request of a person with a sealed record shall 3 be indistinguishable from the response the department would 4 provide to a request for criminal history data of a person with 5 no criminal history data unless the person has criminal history 6 data that is not sealed. 7 The bill specifies that on an application for employment, an 8 applicant may indicate “no record” with respect to any inquiry 9 relating to an arrest, criminal court appearance, or conviction 10 for which the record is sealed, unless the employer is required 11 to perform a criminal history data check as a matter of law, 12 and in such a case the applicant shall be required to disclose 13 the conviction. 14 The bill specifies that the sealing of a record related to a 15 conviction shall not be construed to prevent the conviction to 16 be counted as a previous offense for purposes of prosecution. 17 The bill defines “conviction” to mean a conviction for 18 criminal offense and includes a guilty plea or deferred 19 judgment. “Conviction” does not include a conviction for an 20 offense classified as a simple misdemeanor punishable as a 21 scheduled violation or similar offense. 22 The bill defines “seal” to mean to physically and 23 electronically maintain the record, but to make the record 24 unavailable to the public without a court order and to 25 remove the petitioner’s name from any official public record 26 maintained by the department of public safety or the judicial 27 branch including removal of all criminal history data relating 28 to the conviction. 29 The bill defines “employer” to mean a person engaged in a 30 business who has one or more employees, agents, or contract 31 employees. “Employer” includes the armed forces of the United 32 States, the Iowa army national guard, and the Iowa air national 33 guard. “Employer” in the bill also includes an organization 34 with volunteers. 35 -6- LSB 5878YH (4) 84 jm/rj 6/ 7