Kentucky Felony Expungement Update
If you have a felony conviction on your record in Kentucky, you may be able to get your felony record expunged under HB 40. Here is what you need to know.
The law only applies to the felonies listed here.
Sex offense crimes, violent crimes and crimes against children are NOT expungable.
You may also be eligible for an expungement of a felony conviction if:
- Your case went to a grand jury but you were never indicted
- If the case was dismissed with prejudice
- If you were found not guilty
- Or if you successfully completed a diversion program
- If you were charged with a felony which was later reduced to a misdemeanor
The Expungement Process
Actual expungement applications cannot be processed until July 15, 2016. At that point, expungements can start to be processed if you meet all of the proper criteria. While the specific details on the process are still being worked out by the Administrative Office of the Courts, the process will involve the preparation and filing of an expungement application, along with a $500.00 filing fee. Once the application is processed the Court will schedule a hearing wherein the expungement eligibility will be determined and the Judge will make a ruling. If the ruling is in your favor the felony will be expunged and permanently removed from your record. If you are denied the expungement, an appeal process will be available.
At Dickman Law Office, we have served the legal needs of Kentuckians for over 20 years. Please check out our reviews online here. We go out of our way to accommodate our clients and to help resolve their legal needs. We will put the same amount of time and attention to your felony expungement case as we have done for the past 20 years.
Please call us at 1-888-KYEXPUNGE, 24/7, to discuss your case.
BREAKING NEWS FROM DICKMAN LAW OFFICE
Gov. Matt Bevin has signed a bill that will allow some Class D felonies to be cleared from criminal records five years after a sentence is completed.
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The felony expungement bill failed in the legislature for more than a decade largely because of Republican opposition from the Senate. But Bevin, a Republican, said he would support the bill on the campaign trail last year and has now followed through on the promise, signing it into law on Tuesday.
“It is critical that there is an opportunity for redemption, that there is an opportunity for second chances because America is a land that was founded on these principles,” Bevin said.
The new policy would apply to 61 Class D felonies, which constitute about 70 percent of Class D felonies committed. Some of the most frequently committed offenses are failure to pay child support, possession of a controlled substance, and theft.
Those who want to get their records cleared will need a clean record for five years after their sentences are complete and pay $500.
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Darryl Owens, a Democrat from Louisville, who has pushed the issue for years.
“I’m happy for these folks who now will be able to get their life on the right track, be productive, and contribute significantly to this community and to the commonwealth,” he said.
Owens said the governor’s early endorsement of the bill was “critical” in its advancement through the legislature. For more than a decade, the expungement bill has passed in the Democratic-led state House.
Support in the Senate grew this year, as the issue picked up endorsements from the governor, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, and a variety of organizations included in a newly minted Smart On Crime Coalition.
Sen. Whitney Westerfield, a Republican from Hopkinsville, helped shepherd the bill through the Senate. He said his position changed after hearing West Powell, an ex-convict who testified before lawmakers, talk about his troubles getting and keeping a job with a felony conviction for stealing car radios on his record.
“I don’t know that there was anything profound in the story itself that changed my mind, but something clicked and something made me think, you know, this guy’s done everything we asked,” Westerfield said.
The final version of the new law is significantly different from the original bill filed in the House.
The House approved a version that would allow those who completed sentences for Class D felonies to have their records expunged — removing their arrests and convictions from state records.
The final version would essentially reopen the case and vacate the sentence, and then expunge the record.
Senate President Robert Stivers, a Republican from Manchester and main architect of the new expungement policy, argued that with this version, job applicants would be able to truthfully say they’ve never been convicted of a felony under the law.