Existing law establishes certain procedures pursuant to which a person is authorized to petition a court for the sealing of criminal records relating to: (1) convictions for certain offenses; (2) charges against a person that were dismissed or declined for prosecution or for which the person was acquitted; (3) a conviction which has been set aside; and (4) a conviction for an offense that has been decriminalized. Existing law: (1) establishes certain requirements concerning the amount of time that must elapse after a person was convicted or charged before the records relating to the conviction or charge are eligible to be sealed through the filing of such a petition; and (2) sets forth the circumstances under which a court is authorized or required to grant the petition. (NRS 179.245, 179.255, 179.271) Section 1.3 of this bill requires the Records, Communications and Compliance Division of the Department of Public Safety, not later than January 1, 2027, to develop and implement a process to identify each: (1) conviction of a person and each charge against a person that becomes an eligible conviction and eligible charge; and (2) agency of criminal justice or public or private company, agency, officer or other custodian of records that may reasonably be identified as having possession of records relating to an eligible conviction or eligible charge. Section 1.3 defines “eligible conviction” and “eligible charge” to mean, in general, certain convictions of or charges against a person after January 1, 2027, if the records relating to the conviction or charge are eligible to be sealed pursuant to the provisions of existing law governing the sealing of records. After the development and implementation of the process of identifying eligible convictions and eligible charges, section 1.3 requires the Division to, each month: (1) identify and compile a list of each conviction or charge that has become an eligible conviction or eligible charge in the immediately preceding month and each person or governmental entity identified as having possession of records relating to those eligible convictions and eligible charges; and (2) transmit the list to the Administrative Office of the Courts to recommend the sealing of the records relating to a listed eligible conviction or eligible charge. Section 1.3 requires the Administrative Office of the Courts, not later than January 1, 2027, to develop and implement a process to review such a list received from the Division and to transmit to every court having jurisdiction each conviction of a person or charge against a person that has become an eligible conviction or eligible charge. Section 1.3 also requires the Administrative Office of the Courts, upon receiving such a list from the Division, to confirm each eligible conviction and eligible charge and notify every court having jurisdiction over the sealing of each eligible conviction or eligible charge. Section 1.3 requires a court that receives such a notification from the Administrative Office of the Courts to then provide notice to the appropriate prosecuting attorney or agency and authorizes the prosecuting attorney or agency to object to the sealing of the records relating to each listed eligible conviction or eligible charge. Section 1.3 further establishes the circumstances in which the court may order the records to be sealed. Section 5 of this bill requires the order to be sent to the persons and governmental entities named in the order, who are then required to seal records relating to the eligible conviction or eligible charge. Section 1.3 also: (1) authorizes the Division and the Administrative Office of the Courts to adopt any rules or regulations, as applicable, that are necessary to carry out the provisions of section 1.3; and (2) requires the Administrative Office of the Courts to submit certain annual reports to the Legislature beginning on January 31, 2028. Existing law provides, in general, that there is a rebuttable presumption that certain records of a person should be sealed if the person petitions the court for the sealing of such records and satisfies all statutory requirements. (NRS 179.2445) Section 3.5 of this bill provides that there is also a rebuttable presumption that certain records of a person should be sealed if a court receives a list of confirmed eligible convictions or charges from the Administrative Office of the Courts pursuant to section 1.3 and the records relate to such confirmed eligible convictions or charges. Sections 3.7 and 3.9 of this bill make conforming changes to reflect the change in section 3.5. Existing law provides that if a court seals certain records of a person, certain civil rights of the person are restored. Existing law requires the person to be given documentation demonstrating that fact. If the documentation is lost, damaged or destroyed, the person is authorized to request that a court issue an order to restore his or her civil rights. (NRS 179.285) Section 6 of this bill makes a technical, nonsubstantive change to existing law by reorganizing the language in existing law. Section 6.5 of this bill provides for the restoration of civil rights if the records of a person are sealed pursuant to section 1.3. However, under section 6.5, the person is not required to be given documentation demonstrating that fact. Instead, section 6.5 authorizes a person who was not given documentation of the restoration of his or her civil rights to request that a court issue an order in the same manner as a person whose documentation is lost, damaged or destroyed. Section 7 of this bill authorizes a person who is the subject of records that are sealed pursuant to section 1.3 to petition a court to allow for the inspection of the records. Section 8 of this bill authorizes certain other governmental entities to inspect such records under certain circumstances. Section 7.5 of this bill authorizes the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History and its employees to inspect certain sealed records relating to a violation or alleged violation of the prohibition against certain persons owning or possessing a firearm. (NRS 202.360) Sections 5-7 of this bill also apply provisions relating to records that have been sealed pursuant to certain provisions of law to records that are sealed after a court finds that a person was wrongfully convicted of a felony and enters a certificate of innocence. If a person is arrested and the charges against the person are dismissed or declined for prosecution or the person is acquitted of the charges, existing law authorizes the person to petition a court for the sealing of all records relating to the arrest and the proceedings leading to the dismissal, declination or acquittal. (NRS 179.255) Section 4 of this bill authorizes a person against whom multiple charges were brought, consisting of both charges for which the person was convicted and charges which were disposed of by dismissal, declination or acquittal, to petition for the sealing of those portions of the records relating to the arrest of the person and the subsequent proceedings that relate to the charges which were disposed of by dismissal, declination or acquittal. Section 2 of this bill provides that it is the public policy of this State to enhance and modernize the sharing of information between agencies of criminal justice by having records shared in a timely manner in accordance with statutory requirements. Section 1.7 of this bill creates the Advisory Task Force on Automatic Record Sealing and establishes requirements concerning the membership of the Task Force. Section 1.7 establishes the general duties of the Task Force, including reviewing the current petition-based process for the sealing of records and identifying the ways in which the process can be streamlined to simplify the process for petitioners. Section 1.7 also requires the Task Force to prepare and submit a report to the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Legislature: (1) on or before July 1, 2024, that sets forth the initial activities and findings of the Task Force; (2) on or before July 1, 2025, that sets forth the activities, findings and initial recommendations of the Task Force; and (3) on or before July 1, 2026, that sets forth the final activities, findings and recommendations of the Task Force to support the implementation of the automatic sealing of records of criminal history. Section 8.3 of this bill requires the Administrative Office of the Courts, before January 1, 2025, to adopt rules to streamline the process for filing a petition for the sealing of records, as recommended by the Task Force. Sections 2-3.3 of this bill make conforming changes to indicate the proper placement of sections 1.3 and 1.7 in the Nevada Revised Statutes. Section 8.1 of this bill makes an appropriation from the State General Fund to the Department of Public Safety for the technology costs associated with complying with the provisions of section 1.3. Section 8.15 of this bill makes an appropriation from the State General Fund to the Department for the provision of support to the Task Force, including for the administrative costs of supporting the Task Force. Section 8.2 of this bill makes an appropriation from the State General Fund to the Interim Finance Committee for allocation to the Department for employing or contracting with persons to perform certain functions and, to the extent that money from the appropriation is available, for the Department to award of grants of money to criminal justice agencies to support technology or system upgrades for the purpose of complying with the provisions of section 1.3.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 179.2405, 179.241, 179.255, 179.275, 179.285, 179.295, 179.301
Reprint 1: 179.2405, 179.241, 179.2445, 179.245, 179.247, 179.255, 179.275, 179.285, 179.295, 179.301
Reprint 2: 179.2405, 179.241, 179.2445, 179.245, 179.247, 179.255, 179.275, 179.285, 179.295, 179.301
Reprint 3: 179.2405, 179.241, 179.2445, 179.245, 179.247, 179.255, 179.275, 179.285, 179.295, 179.301
As Enrolled: 179.2405, 179.241, 179.2445, 179.245, 179.247, 179.255, 179.275, 179.285, 179.295, 179.301
BDR: 179.2405, 179.241, 179.255, 179.275, 179.285, 179.295, 179.301