EXPUNCTION OF RECORDS
Present law authorizes an eligible petitioner to file a petition for expunction of that person’s public records involving a criminal offense if the following conditions are met:
(1) The person (i) has not been convicted of a criminal offense that is ineligible for expunction, including federal offenses and offenses in other states, that occurred prior to the offense for which the person is seeking expunction; however, a moving or nonmoving traffic offense is not an offense under this present law; and (ii) has not previously been granted expunction for another criminal offense;
(2) At the time of the filing of the petition for expunction, at least (i) five years have elapsed since the completion of the sentence imposed for the offense the person is seeking to have expunged, if the offense is a misdemeanor or Class E felony; or (ii) 10 years have elapsed since the completion of the sentence imposed for the offense the person is seeking to have expunged, if the offense is a Class C or D felony; and
(3) The person has fulfilled all the requirements of the sentence imposed by the court in which the individual was convicted of the offense, including (i) payment of all fines, restitution, court costs and other assessments; (ii) completion of any term of imprisonment or probation; (iii) meeting all conditions of supervised or unsupervised release; and (iv) if so required by the conditions of the sentence imposed, remaining free from dependency on or abuse of alcohol or a controlled substance or other prohibited substance for a period of not less than one year.
This bill clarifies the present law by authorizing an eligible petitioner to file a petition for expunction of that person’s public records involving a criminal offense eligible for expunction.
This bill rewrites (1)(i) above to, instead, require that the offense for which the person is seeking expunction occurred prior to any conviction for a criminal offense that is ineligible for expunction, including convictions for federal offenses and offenses in other states that would be ineligible for expunction in this state. However, a moving or nonmoving traffic offense is not an offense as used in this law.
EXPUNCTION OF TWO OFFENSES
Present law provides that an "eligible petitioner" means a person who was convicted of not more than two offenses and the following conditions are met:
(A) Each of the offenses for which the petitioner seeks expunction are offenses that are eligible for expunction under the existing law;
(B) The offenses were (i) two misdemeanors or (ii) one felony and one misdemeanor;
(C) At the time of the filing of the petition for expunction, at least (i) five years have elapsed since the completion of the sentence imposed for the most recent offense, if the offenses were both misdemeanors or a Class E felony and a misdemeanor; and (ii) 10 years have elapsed since the completion of the sentence imposed for the most recent offense, if one of the offenses was a Class C or D felony; and
(D) The person has fulfilled all the requirements of the sentences imposed by the court for each offense the petitioner is seeking to expunge, including (i) payment of all fines, restitution, court costs, and other assessments for each offense; (ii) completion of any term of imprisonment or probation for each offense; (iii) meeting all conditions of supervised or unsupervised release for each offense; and (iv) remaining free from dependency on or abuse of alcohol or a controlled substance or other prohibited substance for a period of not less than one year, if so required by the conditions of any of the sentences imposed.
This bill rewrites the present law by, instead, providing that an "eligible petitioner" means a person who is seeking expunction of two offenses and meets all the conditions in (A)-(D) above. This bill also adds to the present law in (A) above by requiring that the offenses occurred prior to any conviction for a criminal offense that is ineligible for expunction, including convictions for federal offenses and offenses in other states that would be ineligible for expunction in this state. However, a moving or nonmoving traffic offense is not an offense as used in this law.
This bill rewrites (C) above by, instead, providing that at the time of the filing of the petition for expunction, at least (i) five years have elapsed since the completion of the sentence imposed for the most recent offense, if the offenses were both misdemeanors or the offenses were a Class E felony and a misdemeanor; or (ii) 10 years have elapsed since the completion of the sentence imposed for the most recent offense, if the offenses were a misdemeanor and a Class C or D felony offense.
ON APRIL 11, 2024, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2844, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 makes the following changes:
(a) Adds to the present law in (1)(ii) of the summary by also requiring that the person has not previously been granted expunction under this bill or under the present law authorizing a person to seek expunction for illegal registration or voting;
(b) Revises the bill by, instead, rewriting (C) in the bill summary to provide at the time of the filing of the petition for expunction at least (i) five years have elapsed since the completion of the sentence imposed for any misdemeanor or Class E felony the person is seeking to have expunged; and (ii) 10 years have elapsed since the completion of the sentence imposed for any Class C or D felony offense the person is seeking to have expunged;
(c) Adds to the present law in the bill summary relevant to expunction of two offenses by also requiring that the person has not previously been granted expunction under present law and this bill;
(d) Provides that if a person was convicted of more than one Class E Felony in the present law relevant to destruction or release of records and the conduct upon which each conviction is based occurred contemporaneously, occurred at the same location, represented a single continuous criminal episode with a single criminal intent, and all such convictions are eligible for expunction, then such convictions are considered a single offense for purposes of the law referenced under expunction of two offenses in the bill summary;
(e) Deletes the present law provision that authorizes a person to petition for expunction of two offenses under the law referenced under expunction of two offenses in the bill summary only one time; and
(f) Revises the present law that authorizes a person to petition for expunction of an offense of illegal registration or voting, if, among other things, the person has not been convicted of a criminal offense that is ineligible for expunction, including federal offenses and offenses in other states, that occurred prior to the offense for which the person is seeking expunction. This amendment revises the present law by, instead, authorizing a person to petition for expunction of an offense of illegal registration or voting, if, among other things, the offense for which the person is seeking expunction occurred prior to any conviction for a criminal offense that is ineligible for expunction, including convictions for federal offenses and offenses in other states that would be ineligible for expunction in this state.
ON APRIL 16, 2024, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 2844 FOR HOUSE BILL 2686, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2844, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #2 makes the following changes:
(1) Adds to the provision in the bill that adds to the present law in (1)(ii) of the summary by also requiring that the person has not previously been granted expunction under this bill or under the present law authorizing a person to seek expunction for illegal registration or voting by also requiring that the person has not previously been granted expunction as a result of the successful completion of a diversion program or a judicial diversion program;
(2) Adds to the provision in the bill that adds to the present law in the bill summary relevant to expunction of two offenses by also requiring that the person has not previously been granted expunction under present law and this bill by also requiring that the person has not previously been granted expunction as a result of the successful completion of a diversion program or a judicial diversion program;
(3) Revises the present law providing that effective July 1, 2023 an “eligible petitioner” means a person who was convicted of a violation of illegal registration or voting, if: (i) at the time of the filing of the petition for expunction, at least 15 years have elapsed since the completion of the sentence imposed for the offense the person is seeking to have expunged; (ii) the person has fulfilled all requirements of the sentence imposed by the court for the offense the petitioner is seeking to expunge, including payment of all fines, restitution, court costs, and other assessments, completion of any term of imprisonment or probation, and meeting all conditions of supervised or unsupervised release; (iii) the person has not been convicted of a criminal offense that is ineligible for expunction, including federal offenses and offenses in other states, that occurred prior to the offense for which the person is seeking expunction; and (iv) the person has not previously been granted expunction present law for another criminal offense. This amendment adds to (iv) above by also requiring that the person has not previously been granted expunction as a result of the successful completion of a diversion program or a judicial diversion program; and
(4) Adds to the present law prohibiting the records of a person who successfully completes a pretrial diversion program or a judicial diversion program from being expunged, if the offense for which the person was diverted was a sexual offense as defined by the Tennessee Sexual Offender and Violent Sexual Offender Registration, Verification, and Tracking Act of 2004, or a violent sexual offense as defined such act by also prohibiting such record from being expunged if the person has previously been granted expunction under the present law or as a result of the successful completion of a pretrial diversion program or a judicial diversion program.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 40-32-101(g)(2), 40-32-101, 40-32-101(k)