Tag: Kansas law

Kansas Legislators Expect Legislation to Make Expungements Easier in the Upcoming Year Kansas lawmakers feel one step closer to passing a bill to improve the approach to expunging criminal records. This progress addresses the many claims about how this process makes it excessively difficult and costly for former offenders to clear their criminal records. So far, this bill has seen several years of bipartisan efforts to simplify this process. Under state law, Kansas residents can expunge arrest and conviction records for most crimes. The exceptions include murder, manslaughter, child abuse, rape, or other sexual crimes. In most cases, those with eligible offenses can petition for expungement after three years for misdemeanors or five for felonies. For some offenses, the waiting period may run as short as one year or as long as ten. This period begins after individuals have satisfied the conditions of their sentence, diversion agreement, conditional release, probation, post-release supervision, or suspended sentence. In addition to meeting the requirements, they must pay any pending court costs. In addition to court costs, those seeking expungements must pay off fines and fees sentenced by the courts. Following the court fines and fees, the individual must pay other penalties and fees with an expungement. Unfortunately, expungement often costs roughly $200 per offense and increases when removing multiple convictions. Lawmakers believe these costs are a significant financial factor preventing people from affording to expunge their records. As a result, these people cannot obtain better jobs, housing, and other opportunities. During the last session, the Kansas House Judiciary Committee attempted to take action on this issue. As a result, the committee passed a bill preventing outstanding costs from factoring in the expungements. Unfortunately, the bill never made it to the House despite no opposition. According to Representative Fred Patton, the bill failed to proceed due to lack of time. Allegedly, the House had already started discussions on other legislation, which ultimately prevented this bill from reaching the voting stage. However, with little opposition and considerable support, the lawmaker expects reforms to the expungement system to make it to the floor during the next legislative cycle. Nonetheless, lawmakers feel uncertain about what form this legislation could take next year. Recent years have seen attempts to provide automatic expungements for certain offenses. In addition, lawmakers have seen attempts to remove the bar on expungements if an individual still owes money. In the meantime, employers can also support opportunities for those with criminal records. They can help by ensuring their policies provide second chances to those with criminal backgrounds. Employers should work with trusted background screening providers when reviewing and updating hiring policies. The right provider will help create an optimal balance between the risks and benefits when hiring ex-offenders. Pre-employ makes background checks easy and reliable. Speak with a compliance expert today. Source

Tag: Kansas law

Kansas Legislators Expect Legislation to Make Expungements Easier in the Upcoming Year

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