On the February 7th, Rep. Joseph Almeida, along with other legislators, introduced House Bill 5328, which will allow for up to five misdemeanors to be expunged from a person’s criminal record. Currently the law only allows for the expungement of a single felony or misdemeanor nonviolent crime by a first-time offender. If the proposed legislation is passed, a person that has multiple misdemeanor offenses on their records will be able to not only erase one, but up to five of these offenses. Successful expungement of a record will allow those to lawfully tell employers and landlords that they have never been convicted of a crime. The erasures of these records allow an individual to greatly improve their standard of living, and will allow a person to move forward in employment and life without the weight and limitations of a conviction.

The introduction of this bill came in response to the surprising request of Rhode Island’s Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, breaking away from his previous stance on the issue. Currently the status of the Bill is pending within the House Judiciary Committee’s chambers. If passed, the Bill will go into effect immediately.

 

Written by Record Clearing

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