Gov. Nixon signed a bill into law earlier this month that would lessen barriers for law-abiding citizens with criminal records seeking employment.

A 20-year wait to expunge a felony conviction will be reduced to seven years. The time frame for a misdemeanor conviction would drop from ten years to three.

“I don’t know if I necessarily agree with the outcome of allowing people to expunge things from their criminal record — things that I think in most cases employers would like to know,” said R. Patt Lilly, St. Joseeph Chamber of Commerce president and CEO.

Lilly said he appreciates the bill’s concept and understands the rationale behind it.

“Everyone deserves a fair chance and opportunity, but I think on the other hand, employers should know who they are hiring — and can make those decisions themselves about whether or not someone’s background or criminal records affects the job that they might do for the company,” Lilly said.

In his experience, employers don’t overlook an applicant with a criminal background, but make a hiring decision based on whether the conviction would impact the job.

Lilly said employers have raised concerns during the legislative session about not having the ability to know an applicant’s background.

The bill also enables a job-seeker who has been granted an expungement to answer “no” when an employer inquires whether they have been convicted of a crime. However, the applicant must divulge expunged criminal convictions if the employer is mandated by federal or state law to decline applicants with certain convictions.

“Regardless of this law, I think most employers are looking at everybody they can hire pretty hard. ... In most cases what I hear from businesses in St. Joseph is that they need people to work,” Lilly said.

Under the current law, a person may petition the court they were found guilty in to expunge specified offenses. The petitioner could file multiple petitions and have multiple offenses expunged, but could only file one petition per circuit court. This act allows a person to file petitions in multiple circuit courts.

The new measure does not seal records for any Class A felony, any violent crimes — such as assault and domestic violence — or a crime with a death element, or crimes that require registering as a sex offender.

A person convicted of any additional crimes after completing their sentence cannot petition to have their records sealed. They must also show they have completed their sentence or probation, have paid their fines and restitution and have no pending adjudication.

Once a petitioner has met the expungment guidelines, they must pay a $250 surcharge, which is a $100 increase that may be waived by the judge if the petitioner is indigent.

“Employers need to be aware of the change in the law and not only what that may mean in terms of future applicants, but the fact it would likely mean there might be more people in the job market,” Lilly said.

The bill goes into effect January 1, 2018.

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