Alabama Expungement Law Expands to Include Cases with Not Guilty Verdicts Even on Violent Offenses
As of May 25, 2017, the Alabama Expungement Law has been expanded to allow expungement of cases where there was a not guilty verdict. The new expansion of the expungement law includes expungement of violent offenses where there is a not guilty verdict. The new law was passed by the Alabama Legislature in the 2017 Session, and was enacted as Acts of Alabama 2017-377.
The law amended Alabama Code § 15-27-2 to include the following language:
(b)(1) A person who has been charged with any felony offense, including a violent offense as defined in Section 12-25-32, may file a petition in the criminal division of the circuit court in the county in which the charges were filed to expunge records relating to the charge if the person has been found not guilty of the charge.
In the past, the Alabama Expungement Law did not allow expungement of criminal records on violent offenses under any circumstances. Violent offenses are listed in Alabama Code § 12-25-32. A list of those offenses can be found on our website. The change in the law means people who were charged with any felony offense and who were found “not guilty” after a trial, can now have the case expunged.
The new law provides that records related to violent offenses as defined in Section 12-25-32 can be disclosed to law enforcement agency for criminal investigation purposes. Those purposes are listed in Alabama Code § 15-27-7. Alabama Code § 15-27-7 states that records of an expunged case may not be used for any non-criminal justice purpose, but the records can be made available to criminal justice agencies upon acknowledgement of an investigation or other criminal matter involving the person related to the expungement. Essentially, law enforcement can get access to the expunged record, but only where there is an active investigation or where there is an actual non-related criminal matter ongoing.
The lawyers at Bradford Ladner LLP have handle numerous expungements under the prior version of the law. In those cases, it was a rare event to have anyone object to an expungement. Typically, in a DUI or drug case there is no individual “victim,” so the only person who could possibly object would be he District Attorney in the county were the expungement petition was filed. But in cases of felony’s and especially violent felonies, we anticipate that there could be a great deal of resistance and objection depending on the particular circumstances.
If you have been charged with a felony offense, regardless of the offense, and were found not guilty after a trial of your case, please call Bradford Ladner LLP and let us assist you in obtaining an expungement of your criminal record on the offense.
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