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§ 9122. Expungement

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 18 Pa.C.S.A. Crimes and OffensesEffective: December 28, 2020 to June 10, 2024

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated Statutes
Title 18 Pa.C.S.A. Crimes and Offenses (Refs & Annos)
Part III. Miscellaneous Provisions
Chapter 91. Criminal History Record Information (Refs & Annos)
Subchapter C. Dissemination of Criminal History Record Information (Refs & Annos)
Effective: December 28, 2020 to June 10, 2024
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 9122
§ 9122. Expungement
Currentness
<Text of section effective until June 11, 2024. See also, text of 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 9122 effective June 11, 2024.>
(a) Specific proceedings.--Criminal history record information shall be expunged in a specific criminal proceeding when:
(1) no disposition has been received or, upon request for criminal history record information, no disposition has been recorded in the repository within 18 months after the date of arrest and the court of proper jurisdiction certifies to the director of the repository that no disposition is available and no action is pending. Expungement shall not occur until the certification from the court is received and the director of the repository authorizes such expungement;
(2) a court order requires that such nonconviction data be expunged;
(3) a person 21 years of age or older who has been convicted of a violation of section 6308 (relating to purchase, consumption, possession or transportation of liquor or malt or brewed beverages), which occurred on or after the day the person attained 18 years of age, petitions the court of common pleas in the county where the conviction occurred seeking expungement and the person has satisfied all terms and conditions of the sentence imposed for the violation, including any suspension of operating privileges imposed pursuant to section 6310.4 (relating to restriction of operating privileges). Upon review of the petition, the court shall order the expungement of all criminal history record information and all administrative records of the Department of Transportation relating to said conviction; or
(4) a judicial determination has been made that a person is acquitted of an offense, if the person has been acquitted of all charges based on the same conduct or arising from the same criminal episode following a trial and a verdict of not guilty. This paragraph shall not apply to a partial acquittal. A judicial determination under this paragraph may only be made after the following:
(i) The court provides notice in writing to the person and to the Commonwealth that the person's criminal history record information will be automatically expunged pursuant to this section.
(ii) Upon receipt of the notice under subparagraph (i), the Commonwealth shall have 60 days to object to the automatic expungement on the basis that the person has not been acquitted of all charges relating to the same conduct, arising from the same criminal episode or otherwise relating to a partial acquittal.
(iii) Upon the filing of an objection, the court shall conduct a hearing to determine whether expungement of the acquittal relates to the same conduct, arises from the same criminal episode or otherwise relates to a partial acquittal. The hearing may be waived by agreement of both parties and the court.
(iv) Following the hearing, or if no objection has been filed or the hearing has been waived, the court shall order that the person's criminal history record information be automatically expunged unless the court determines the expungement relates to the same conduct, arises from the same criminal episode or otherwise relates to a partial acquittal. Expungement shall occur no later than 12 months from the date of acquittal.
(b) Generally.--Criminal history record information may be expunged when:
(1) An individual who is the subject of the information reaches 70 years of age and has been free of arrest or prosecution for ten years following final release from confinement or supervision.
(2) An individual who is the subject of the information has been dead for three years.
(3)(i) An individual who is the subject of the information petitions the court for the expungement of a summary offense and has been free of arrest or prosecution for five years following the conviction for that offense.
(ii) Expungement under this paragraph shall only be permitted for a conviction of a summary offense.
(b.1) Prohibition.--A court shall not have the authority to order expungement of the defendant's arrest record where the defendant was placed on Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition for a violation of any offense set forth in any of the following where the victim is under 18 years of age:
Section 3121 (relating to rape).
Section 3122.1 (relating to statutory sexual assault).
Section 3123 (relating to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse).
Section 3124.1 (relating to sexual assault).
Section 3125 (relating to aggravated indecent assault).
Section 3126 (relating to indecent assault).
Section 3127 (relating to indecent exposure).
Section 5902(b) (relating to prostitution and related offenses).
Section 5903 (relating to obscene and other sexual materials and performances).
(c) Maintenance of certain information required or authorized.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the prosecuting attorney and the central repository shall, and the court may, maintain a list of the names and other criminal history record information of persons whose records are required by law or court rule to be expunged where the individual has successfully completed the conditions of any pretrial or post-trial diversion or probation program or where the court has ordered expungement under this section. Such information shall be used solely for the purposes of determining subsequent eligibility for such programs, identifying persons in criminal investigations or determining the grading of subsequent offenses. Such information shall be made available to any court or law enforcement agency upon request.
(d) Notice of expungement.--Notice of expungement shall promptly be submitted to the central repository which shall notify all criminal justice agencies which have received the criminal history record information to be expunged.
(e) Public records.--Public records listed in section 9104(a) (relating to scope) shall not be expunged.
(f) District attorney's notice.--The court shall give ten days prior notice to the district attorney of the county where the original charge was filed of any applications for expungement under the provisions of subsection (a)(2).

Credits

1979, July 16, P.L. 116, No. 47, § 2, effective in 60 days. Amended 1982, June 11, P.L. 476, No. 138, § 4, effective in 180 days 1996, Oct. 16, P.L. 715, No. 128, § 1, effective in 60 days; 1997, April 22, P.L. 73, No. 5, § 4, effective in 60 days; 2004, Nov. 29, P.L. 1349, No. 173, § 3, effective in 60 days [Jan. 28, 2005]; 2008, Nov. 26, P.L. 1670, No. 134, § 1, effective in 60 days [Jan. 26, 2009]; 2012, Oct. 25, P.L. 1655, No. 204, § 3, effective in 60 days [Dec. 24, 2012]; 2020, Oct. 29, P.L. 718, No. 83, § 1, effective in 60 days [Dec. 28, 2020].
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 9122, PA ST 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 9122
Current through Act 10 of the 2024 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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