☰ Revisor of Missouri

Title XXXIX CONDUCT OF PUBLIC BUSINESS

Chapter 610

< > Effective - 28 Aug 2012, 5 histories, see footnote (history) bottom

  *610.140.  Expungement of certain criminal records, petition, contents, procedure. — 1.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law and subject to the provisions of this section, any person may apply to any court in which such person was found guilty of any of the offenses specified in subsection 2 of this section for an order to expunge recordations of such arrest, plea, trial, or conviction.  A person may apply to have one or more offenses expunged so long as such person lists all the offenses he or she is seeking to have expunged in the same petition and so long as all such offenses are eligible under subsection 2 of this section.

  2.  The following offenses are eligible to be expunged when such offenses occurred within the state of Missouri and were prosecuted under the jurisdiction of a Missouri municipal associate or circuit court:

  (1)  Any felony or misdemeanor offense of passing a bad check under 570.120, fraudulently stopping payment of an instrument under 570.125, or fraudulent use of a credit device or debit device under section 570.130;

  (2)  Any misdemeanor offense of sections 569.065, 569.067**, 569.090, subdivision (1) of subsection 1 of section 569.120, sections 569.140, 569.145, 572.020, 574.020, or 574.075; or

  (3)  Any class B or C misdemeanor offense of section 574.010.

  3.  The petition shall name as defendants all law enforcement agencies, courts, prosecuting or circuit attorneys, central state repositories of criminal records, or others who the petitioner has reason to believe may possess the records subject to expungement for each of the offenses listed in the petition.  The court's order of expungement shall not affect any person or entity not named as a defendant in the action.

  4.  The petition shall be dismissed if it does not include the following information:

  (1)  The petitioner's:

  (a)  Full name;

  (b)  Sex;

  (c)  Race;

  (d)  Driver's license number, if applicable; and

  (e)  Current address;

  (2)  Each offense charged against the petitioner for which the petitioner is requesting expungement;

  (3)  The date the petitioner was arrested for each offense;

  (4)  The name of the county where the petitioner was arrested for each offense and if any of the offenses occurred in a municipality, the name of the municipality for each offense;

  (5)  The name of the agency that arrested the petitioner for each offense;

  (6)  The case number and name of the court for each offense; and

  (7)  Petitioner's fingerprints on a standard fingerprint card at the time of filing a petition for expungement which will be forwarded to the central repository for the sole purpose of positively identifying the petitioner.

  5.  The court may set a hearing on the matter no sooner than thirty days from the filing of the petition and shall give reasonable notice of the hearing to each entity named in the petition.  At the hearing, the court may accept evidence and hear testimony on, and may consider, the following criteria for each of the offenses listed in the petition for expungement:

  (1)  It has been at least twenty years if the offense is a felony, or at least ten years if the offense is a misdemeanor, municipal offense, or infraction, since the person making the application completed:

  (a)  Any sentence of imprisonment; or

  (b)  Any period of probation or parole;

  (2)  The person has not been found guilty of a misdemeanor or felony, not including violations of the traffic regulations provided under chapters 304 and 307, during the time period specified for the underlying offense in subdivision (1) of this subsection;

  (3)  The person has paid any amount of restitution ordered by the court;

  (4)  The circumstances and behavior of the petitioner warrant the expungement; and

  (5)  The expungement is consistent with the public welfare.

  6.  If the court determines at the conclusion of the hearing that such person meets all the criteria set forth in subsection 5 of this section for each of the offenses listed in the petition for expungement, the court may enter an order of expungement.  A copy of the order shall be provided to each entity named in the petition, and, upon receipt of the order, each entity shall destroy any record in its possession relating to any offense listed in the petition.  If destruction of the record is not feasible because of the permanent nature of the record books, such record entries shall be blacked out.  Entries of a record ordered expunged shall be removed from all electronic files maintained with the state of Missouri, except for the files of the court.  The records and files maintained in any administrative or court proceeding in a municipal, associate, or circuit court for any offense ordered expunged under this section shall be confidential and only available to the parties or by order of the court for good cause shown.  The central repository shall request the Federal Bureau of Investigation to expunge the records from its files.

  7.  The order shall not limit any of the petitioner's rights that were restricted as a collateral consequence of such person's criminal record, and such rights shall be restored upon issuance of the order of expungement.  Except as otherwise provided under this section, the effect of such order shall be to restore such person to the status he or she occupied prior to such arrests, pleas, trials, or convictions as if such events had never taken place.  No person as to whom such order has been entered shall be held thereafter under any provision of law to be guilty of perjury or otherwise giving a false statement by reason of his or her failure to recite or acknowledge such arrests, pleas, trials, convictions, or expungement in response to an inquiry made of him or her and no such inquiry shall be made for information relating to an expungement, except the petitioner shall disclose the expunged offense to any court when asked or upon being charged with any subsequent offense.  The expunged offense may be considered a prior offense in determining a sentence to be imposed for any subsequent offense that the person is found guilty of committing.

  8.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 7 of this section to the contrary, a person granted an expungement shall disclose any expunged offense when the disclosure of such information is necessary to complete any application for:

  (1)  A license, certificate, or permit issued by this state to practice such individual's profession;

  (2)  Any license issued under chapter 313; or

  (3)  Paid or unpaid employment with an entity licensed under chapter 313, any state-operated lottery, or any emergency services provider, including any law enforcement agency.  

­­

­

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, an expunged offense shall not be grounds for automatic disqualification of an applicant, but may be a factor for denying employment, or a professional license, certificate, or permit.

  9.  If the court determines that such person has not met the criteria for any of the offenses listed in the petition for expungement, the court shall enter an order dismissing the petition.  Any person whose petition for expungement has been dismissed by the court for failure to meet the criteria set forth in subsection 5 of this section may not refile another petition until a year has passed since the date of filing for the previous petition.

  10.  A person may be granted more than one expungement under this section provided that no person shall be granted more than one order of expungement from the same court.  Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the court from maintaining records to ensure that an individual has only one petition for expungement granted by such court under this section.

­­--------

(L. 2012 H.B. 1647)

*This section was amended by S.B. 588, 603 & 942, 2016.  Due to a delayed effective date, both versions of this section are printed here.

**Section 569.067 was repealed by S.B. 491, 2014, effective 1-01-17.


---- end of effective  28 Aug 2012 ----

use this link to bookmark section  610.140


 - All versions
Effective End
610.140 8/28/2021
610.140 8/28/2019 8/28/2021
610.140 8/28/2018 8/28/2019
610.140 1/1/2018 8/28/2018
610.140 8/28/2012 1/1/2018

Click here for the Reorganization Act of 1974 - or - Concurrent Resolutions Having Force & Effect of Law
In accordance with Section 3.090, the language of statutory sections enacted during a legislative session are updated and available on this website on the effective date of such enacted statutory section. Revisor Home    

Other Information
 Recent Sections Editorials May Be Cited As Tables & Forms Multiple Enact
Repeal & Transfer Definitions End Report

Site changes Pictures Contact

Other Links
Legislative Research Oversight MOLIS
Library MO WebMasters
Senate
Missouri Senate
State of Missouri
MO.gov
House
Missouri House