INDIANA'S EXPUNGMENT LAW EXPANDED

In this past session, the Indiana General Assembly made significant changes to portions of Indiana’s expungement statute to make it easier for petitioners to have their criminal records expunged.  Effective March 26, 2014, the Legislature changed Ind. Code § 35-38-9-2 in the following ways:

·         An expungement petition must now be filed in a circuit or superior court in the county of conviction instead of the sentencing court

·         For discretionary expungements, the trial judge is no longer required to consider the victim’s statement before making its determination

·         A petitioner is no longer required to complete his or her sentence, but instead must only pay all fines, fees, court costs, and restitution obligations

·         Indigent petitioners are no longer required to pay filing fees before expunging conviction records

·         The burden of proof is decreased from “clear and convincing evidence” to “preponderance of evidence”

·         An existing or pending driver’s license suspension no longer precludes expungement

·         Prosecutors can now agree to a shorter period without a conviction before a sentence may be expunged

Contact Zaki Ali today for assistance in removing the stigma of your criminal conviction.