WI Leg. Council Special Cmte on Expunction of Criminal Records Update

TO: WMC Human Resources Steering Committee

FROM: Timothy G. Costello, Chair, WMC Human Resources Steering Committee

John Metcalf, Director, Human Resources Policy

DATE: October 3, 2006

Background
The first meeting of the Wisconsin Legislative Council Special Committee on Expunction of Criminal Records was held on September 28, 2006. Tim Costello of Krukowski & Costello, S.C., and Chair of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Human Resource Steering Committee is serving as WMC’s representative on the Special Committee. This Special Committee grew out of the recommendations made by the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access Oversight Committee of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Current Deliberations
The Special Committee is establishing its mission and organization. Three general principles have emerged to date:

· The public access to Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) will not be further restricted beyond what is currently on the site. The public can continue to view all information entered into the Circuit Court Automation Program (CCAP) system.

· To the extent there is an expungement of an individual’s criminal conviction, it should be universal. The WCCA record and the Crime Information Bureau (CIB) record maintained by the Wisconsin State Department of Justice should be identical, and both reflect any expungement. This is not automatically the case currently.

· The Special Committee will explore expanding the current law regarding the expungement of misdemeanor records. Presently, the following parameter apply to expungement:

· The person must be under age 21 at the time the offense was committed;

· The offense must be a misdemeanor;

· The person must have been convicted of a misdemeanor;

· The Court must determine that the person will benefit and that society will not be harmed by the expungement;

· The Court must order expungement at the time of the sentencing; and

· The person must successfully complete the sentence.

The Committee discussed problems with expungement under the current statute:

· Limits on eligibility,

· Municipal ordinance violations or civil forfeitures cannot be expunged,

· The conviction is still a “criminal conviction record” which can be utilized by an employer for employment decisions, so long as it “substantially relates” to the circumstances of a particular job.

Finally, there is interest in expanding the statute to provide for a “one time” expungement where – even if the misdemeanor conviction is substantially related to a particular job – it could not be used as a basis for an employment decision if the Court issues an expungement order. The effect of expungement would make a misdemeanor conviction the equivalent of a non-pending arrest under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act’s anti-discrimination provision covering arrest and conviction records – it could not be used in any employment decision.

Future Meetings
The next meeting of the Special Committee is scheduled for November 21, 2006. The final meeting is scheduled for the week of December 11, 2006.

Please feel free to contact John Metcalf at Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, 608-661-6911 or email at: jmetcalf@wmc.org, or call Tim Costello at Krukowski & Costello, S.C., 414-423-1330 with any comments or questions.

Posted: October 04, 2006