Missouri Bar Archives

Missouri Bar committee to propose review of expungement laws

May 5, 2014 By Mike Lear

The same committee that set into motion work during the past eight years to update Missouri’s criminal code is preparing to ask for a similar review of the state’s expungement laws.

Missouri Bar President Jack Brady

The Missouri Bar’s Criminal Law Committee will propose Friday to the Bar’s Board of Governors a review of laws allowing Missourians to ask that some offenses be wiped from their criminal records.

Missouri law allows individuals to petition the courts for expungement of offenses including a first driving while intoxicated offense, felony or misdemeanor passing a bad check or fraudulent use of a credit or debit device, when certain conditions are met. Successful petitions can result in the restoration of some rights, such as serving on a jury, and proponents argue citizens’ ability to advance in careers and move on with life is hindered when an offense isn’t eligible to be expunged.

“Expungement is basically to give an opportunity for those people who might have done one stupid thing at one time to get it off their record,” says Missouri Bar President Jack Brady.

He says the issue has been raised with several proposed pieces of legislation in recent sessions of the General Assembly. The Criminal Law Committee felt that was an issue that should be studied on its own and not as part of the larger criminal code review.

Senator Jolie Justus (courtesy; Missouri Senate Communications)

Senator Jolie Justus (D-Kansas City) is hopeful that the review will result in some expansion of current law.

“There should be some path for some citizens to get to expungement,” Justus tells Missourinet, but she says the scope will have its limits. “This can’t be for violent offenders. This can’t be for murders, rapists, sex offenders, I mean it’s very clear that those folks need to have that record follow them.”

Brady says there is no preconceived notion of what offenses might be considered for addition to expungement laws, now how many offenses a person might be allowed to petition on.

“I have a lot of confidence in the prosecutors and the public defenders and the criminal defense bar and the judges that we’ve worked with on the criminal law reviews,” says Brady. “I’ve got a lot of confidence that they’ll be able to take all of those factors into consideration and hopefully develop a plan.”

Representative Kim Gardner (courtesy; Missouri House Communications)

Some lawmakers disagree with the decision not to rewrite expungement law as part of the criminal code review.

Representative Kim Gardner (D-St. Louis City) says to her, the issues go together.

“I’m glad that the Bar is taking ownership that something needs to be done in this area, but now lets really get something together because I don’t think it should take as long as the criminal code … it should be a no-brainer.”

Missouri law allows courts to retain files on expunged cases under seal and only available through a court order. A crime that has been expunged can still be considered a previous offense if the person who committed it commits another crime.

Criminal code crafters honored with superhero artwork

April 24, 2014 By Mike Lear

Some of the lawmakers and others who worked on the proposed update of the criminal code sent to Governor Jay Nixon (D) Thursday have been honored in a piece of art to mark its passage out of the legislature.

The poster depicts superhero charicatures of 13 people who worked on the proposed revision of Missouri’s criminal code, sent Thursday to Governor Nixon.

The poster features Senators Jolie Justus and Bob Dixon, Representatives Stanley Cox and Chris Kelly, Eric Jennings who works in Senator Dixon’s office, Executive Director of the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services Jason Lamb, Deputy Director of Missouri Kids First Emily Van Schenkhof, Chief Executive Officer with the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence Colleen Coble, lobbyists for the Missouri Bar Woody Cozad and Catherine Barrie, lobbyist for the Missouri Supreme Court Betsy Aubuchon, and lobbyist Ward Cook.

Missouri Bar legislative counsel Eric Wilson, who is also featured on the poster, asked his friend Ronald Barba draw the poster.

See our story on passage of the criminal code bill and on the last round of changes

Legislature will try to get criminal code rewrite to Gov. Nixon next week

April 18, 2014 By Mike Lear

State lawmakers who have spent years crafting an update to Missouri’s system of criminal laws and punishments hope to send Governor Jay Nixon (D) a bill next week.

Representative Stanley Cox (courtesy; Missouri House Communications)

House and Senate versions of that rewrite were passed last week, and lawmakers in both chambers met this week to discuss differences between those versions and reach a compromise. They plan to attempt to make those changes to the Senate bill (SB 491) in a House committee, and get it through both chambers and to the Governor next week.

“We have a bill which is satisfactory to the sponsors in both houses,” says Representative Stanley Cox (R-Sedalia), the sponsor of the House legislation.

One of the major differences between the two versions dealt with penalties for first-time possession of small amounts of marijuana. The Senate version would eliminate jail time for possession of less than 35 grams of marijuana, while the House version would maintain the current penalty of up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Senator Jolie Justus (courtesy; Missouri Senate Communications)

Senator Jolie Justus (D-Kansas City) says the two sides struck a “tentative” compromise.

“We kept it so that if you have 35 or less grams of marijuana and it’s a first-time offense it’ll be a Class-A misdemeanor which is what it is now, but if you have 10 grams or less of marijuana and it’s a first-time offense then it will be moved to a Class-D misdemeanor, which is not going to be subject to jail time. It will be fine only.”

In response to concerns about the size of the legislation expressed by Governor Nixon, Senate lawmakers had removed some 400 pages that reclassified certain felonies and added a fifth level of felony offense. Justus says that will be restored.

“When we sat down and worked it out with the House members, frankly, we realized that cutting that out was kind of defeating the purpose of what we’d set out to do in the first place without really addressing the Governor’s issues,” says Justus.

The proposal will still come out smaller than the House’s more than 1000-page bill, though. Cox says that’s because those from his chamber agreed to remove language dealing with weapons penalties.

“There were lots of issues with that,” Cox says. “We thought it best not to try to address that. Some of it had to do with other legislation passing through the legislature this year.”

The bill still won’t be broken down into smaller pieces based on subject matter, which is what Nixon had indicated he wanted. Justus says lawmakers don’t feel that can be done.

Nixon says the size of the bill leaves too much room for error, and he dismisses legislators’ position that the bill will be vetted after passage by the Missouri Supreme Court and its effective date has been pushed back to 2017, to allow time for changes if necessary.

Justus and Cox both say if necessary, they think the legislature could overturn the Governor if he were to veto the bill.

“Obviously we’ll take a look at the veto message if there is one,” Justus says.

If the bill is sent to Nixon it would be the culmination of years of work for both lawmakers.

“The closer we get the more nervous I get,” Justus tells Missourinet, but adds she is confident the bill has been thoroughly vetted starting with its drafting by a Missouri Bar committee, followed by five years of committee work leading up to full chamber consideration.

Cox agrees. “I feel confident that we’ll get it done this year.”