Alabama Expungement Law Proposed in Alabama Legislature
An Alabama expungement law was proposed in the Alabama House of Representatives on February 5, 2013. House Bill 56 was proposed by Representative Chris England of Tuscaloosa. The bill would provide a way for misdemeanor criminal records to be expunged. Currently there is little or no way in Alabama to have any criminal arrest or conviction taken off of a permanent record. This is true even where a person was only arrested or arrested and the charge dropped.
Presently, without an Alabama expungement law, if a person is charged and is acquitted of the crime, their record still shows the charges and the arrest. Information regarding an arrest or a conviction can follow a person forever. The arrest or conviction can haunt the person every time they fill out a job application, a mortgage application or apply for a sensitive position that requires a security clearance.
An Alabama expungement law has been introduced each year for the past three years or more. On each of the prior years, the bill did not make its way through the entire process for one reason or another, either the bill did not make it our of committee or it was vetoed. The passage of the bill would fill a important gap in our system of justice. The expungement law would allow people who were arrested and not convicted, for whatever reason, to clear their records.
Bradford Ladner LLP encourages you to call your legislator and let them know your support for the bill. This year, as in years past, Amber Ladner, of Bradford Ladner, is support the bill as a member of the Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Legislative Committee. Ladner is currently the President Elect of the Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and will take the helm of the organization as Present in May 2013.
