NORTH CAROLINA — A local representative celebrated the recent passage of a broadly supported provision to restore automated expunctions for dismissed and “not-guilty” charges from a bill he introduced four years ago. He still expressed frustration at another lawmaker’s efforts to stall the action in two separate bills.
Governor Roy Cooper signed S.B. 565 — titled “Revise Automatic Expunction” — into law this month, restoring a process initiated four years ago in the 2020 North Carolina Second Chance Act. It included expanded eligibility for expunging nonviolent charges that create barriers to employment, housing and other opportunities.
The Administrative Office of the Courts processed around 500,000 total expunctions following the provision’s passage from December 2021 until its suspension in August 2022 — triple the monthly rate of previous expunctions.
Technical issues caused by the volume of records needing expunction led the Administrative Office of the Courts to pause the program and convene a working group of justice system stakeholders to draft recommended solutions. They were part of Senate Bill 565, which passed the state Senate in 2023 and was set to restore automated expunctions in July 2024.
But in May, House Judiciary 2 Committee chair Sarah Stevens (R-Surry) surprised lawmakers with an amended version of the bill that gutted the provision. She cited technical issues caused by the 2020 legislation — such as dismissed and not-guilty charges remaining on websites used by landlords and employers despite expunction — but said she was open to revisiting it in the future. She did not respond to PCD’s questions about the removal, such as if any group or individual had lobbied against it.
Rep. Ted Davis Jr. (R-New Hanover) — who introduced the Second Chance Act four years ago — said he was confused by Stevens’ action.
“Very rarely will you hear me stand up and talk against a Republican bill,” he told Port City Daily Monday. “But I felt so strongly that this was wrong.”
Davis spoke against the repeal at a June 5 committee hearing.
“I basically broke rank and told the bodies I thought this was wrong, that we were doing the wrong thing,” Davis said. “It’s amazing that when we got through, I had more Democrats come up to me and thank me for what I said and told me I could come join the party.”
In the same session, Stevens put forward a separate bill — Senate Bill 303, “Various Court Changes” — but did not mention she had added language to require the suspension of automated expunctions until July 2025.
Davis told PCD he was unaware of Stevens’ secondary effort. On June 26, lawmakers removed the suspension provision from S.B. 303 — as well as the repeal of automated expunctions in S.B. 565 — before quickly passing the bills through both chambers. Cooper signed them into law July 8.
Laura Webb, director of the North Carolina Justice Center’s Fair Chance Criminal Justice Project, said a broad group of stakeholders worked to address concerns cited by Stevens and explain how stakeholder recommendations would fix them.
“There was a rapid-response campaign, where a lot of people banded together to reach out to lawmakers and educate them about what they were voting on,” she said. “And I think once people got clarification about what the bill actually said, they realized it was going back on a promise made four years ago.”
Supporters including Davis, the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, North Carolina Conservatives for Criminal Justice Reform, the North Carolina Justice Center, and the North Carolina ACLU have cited increased employment among the benefits of automated expunctions.
“We have a severe workforce shortage and we have people with dismissed charges who aren’t able to get employment,” Webb said. “That impacts our economy and public safety. Because idle hands are the devil’s workshop and there are people who could be occupied doing productive things.”
Webb noted the Second Chance Act updated the petition-based method individuals use to attain expunctions. Because many residents were unable to afford an attorney, didn’t know whether they were eligible, and had difficulty navigating the petition process, stakeholders advocate automated expunctions to ease the process.
Sonya Patrick, chair of the New Hanover Black Leadership Caucus, traveled to Raleigh in recent months to advocate the legislation with other groups.
“This is really going to help the lives of a lot of people,” she said Monday. “Because you shouldn’t be penalized for something you weren’t charged with. And then you’ve got to pay a lawyer to get it off?”
Last month, AOC spokesperson Graham Wilson sent Port City Daily documents showing AOC estimates more than one million cases — and substantially more total charges — are eligible for expunction but remain unprocessed.
The final version of SB 565 extends the time between a disposition and expunction to “no less than 180 days and no more than 210 days.” It gives AOC a year to catch up on the backlog instead of the initially proposed 180 days.
Expunged records will be retained as confidential files by the AOC and clerks of superior court. They will only be accessible by request from attorneys representing a client with an expunged record and district attorneys.
In January, the American Bar Association published a report showing almost every state has expanded expunction statutes in recent years. It cited studies finding states with automated expunctions have lower recidivism rates and economic benefits from increased employment.
“Everyone who goes to court and has their case dismissed expects that the case is over,” New Hanover County assistant public defender Katie Corpening said. “They do not expect that dismissal to be used against them later.”
Some groups have sought to stall or repeal automated expunctions in recent years, such as the state police in Louisiana and the Conference of District Attorneys — which named Stevens Legislator of the Year in 2019 and has worked with her on other bills — in North Carolina. Emails obtained by Bolts Mag show conference director Kim Spahos sought to repeal automated expunctions amid technical problems in 2022; the conference did not respond to PCD’s questions about their position on S.B. 565 or if they lobbied on recent automated expunction legislation.
Tips or comments? Email journalist Peter Castagno at peter@localdailymedia.com.
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