1. (A)

   1. (1) When criminal charges are brought in a summary court and the accused person is found not guilty or if the charges are dismissed or nolle prossed, pursuant to Section 17-1-40, the presiding judge of the summary court, at no cost to the accused person, immediately shall issue an order to expunge the criminal records, including any associated bench warrants, of the accused person unless the dismissal of the charges occurs at a preliminary hearing or unless the accused person has charges pending in summary court and a court of general sessions and such charges arise out of the same course of events. This expungement must occur no sooner than the appeal expiration date and no later than thirty days after the appeal expiration date. Except as provided in item (2), upon issuance of the order, the judge of the summary court or a member of the summary court staff must coordinate with SLED to confirm that the criminal charge is statutorily appropriate for expungement; obtain and verify the presence of all necessary signatures; file the completed expungement order with the clerk of court; provide copies of the completed expungement order to all governmental agencies which must receive the order including, but not limited to, the arresting law enforcement agency, the detention facility or jail, the solicitor's office, the magistrates or municipal court where the arrest or bench warrant originated, the magistrates or municipal court that was involved in any way in the criminal process of the charge or bench warrant sought to be expunged, and SLED. The judge of the summary court or a member of the summary court staff also must provide a copy of the completed expungement order to the applicant or his retained counsel. The prosecuting agency or appropriate law enforcement agency may file an objection to a summary court expungement. If an objection is filed by the prosecuting agency or law enforcement agency, that expungement then must be heard by the judge of a general sessions court. The prosecuting agency's or the appropriate law enforcement agency's reason for objecting must be that the:

      1. (a) accused person has other charges pending;
      2. (b) prosecuting agency or the appropriate law enforcement agency believes that the evidence in the case needs to be preserved; or
      3. (c) accused person's charges were dismissed as a part of a plea agreement.
   2. (2) If criminal charges are brought in a summary court and the accused person is found not guilty, or the charges are dismissed or nolle prossed pursuant to Section 17-1-40, and the person was not fingerprinted for the violation, then, upon issuance of the order, the summary court shall coordinate with the arresting law enforcement agency to confirm that the person was not fingerprinted for the violation; obtain and verify all necessary signatures; and provide copies of the completed expungement order to the arresting law enforcement agency and all summary courts that were involved in the criminal process of the charges. The summary court is not required to provide copies of the completed expungement order to SLED. All summary courts that were involved in the criminal process of the charges shall destroy all documentation related to the charges, including, but not limited to, removing the charges from Internet-based public records. All other provisions of subsection (A)(1) apply.
2. (B) If the prosecuting agency or the appropriate law enforcement agency objects to an expungement order being issued pursuant to subsection (A)(1)(b), the prosecuting agency or appropriate law enforcement agency must notify the accused person of the objection. This notice must be given in writing at the address listed on the accused person's bond form, or through his attorney, no later than thirty days after the person is found not guilty or his charges are dismissed or nolle prossed.

HISTORY: 2009 Act No. 36, Section 2, eff June 2, 2009; 2014 Act No. 276 (H.4560), Section 5, eff June 9, 2014.

Effect of Amendment

2014 Act No. 276, Section 5, in subsection (A)(1), inserted the paragraph designator (1) and redesignated the subparagraphs accordingly, inserted ", including any associated bench warrants," in the first sentence, inserted "Except as provided in item (2)," in the second sentence, and in the third sentence, inserted "or bench" and "or bench warrant", and added paragraph (2); and in subsection (B), substituted "(A)(1)(b)" for "(A)(2)".