A measure in Gov. Jim Doyle’s budget proposal to erase the records of certain crimes committed by individuals under the age of 25 was approved by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance Tuesday.
Current law allows a judge to order that the record of a convicted individual may be expunged if the individual was under the age of 21 when he or she committed the offense, which can only be a misdemeanor.
The governor’s provision would allow a judge to expunge the record of a convicted individual provided he or she was under the age of 25 when the crime was committed and the violation only had a maximum prison sentence of six years. Class H or I violent offense felonies, including embezzlement and child pornography, could not be expunged under Doyle’s plan.
As members debated the governor’s proposal, three amendments were presented before the committee.
One amendment, authored by Sens. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, and Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, excluded various crimes that could not be expunged from an individual’s record, among which are crimes against children and stalking.
The motion passed the committee unanimously, though many Republican members argued other crimes, such as identify theft, should have been included in the amendment as well.
Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, also presented the committee with additional amendments, none of which passed, including one that would only allow first time offenses to be expunged by the courts.
“Someone who commits a single offense, giving people a second chance, that’s fine,” Vos said. “If the idea is to say that we’re willing to wipe away dozens of offense(s), I’d rather err on the side of letting the public know.”
Taylor, however, said it is unlikely criminals with multiple convictions would have their records cleared, arguing judges would be unlikely to expunge those records because it would put public safety in jeopardy.
“They are not going to expunge cases where individuals have a series of offenses the way that it has been suggested. … A person will be expunged if the person has successfully completed the sentence and has not committed a second crime,” Taylor said.
Vos’ second amendment called for reverse expunging, which would reinstate the previously erased offense if repeated, arguing the public had a right to know about criminals that re-offend.
While both of Vos’ amendments failed, the provision was passed by a 9-6 vote, with two Democratic committee members, Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, and Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, voting against the proposal with all of the committee’s Republican members.
Committee members also voted in favor of a 75-cent monthly surcharge fee on all landline and wireless phones to fund the state’s 911 centers. The state’s Public Service Commission would be responsible for setting the exact rate of the charge and would also administer the revenue collected by the surcharge.
With a 75-cent surcharge, the commission is estimated to collect $102 million over the next two years. The measure was passed by a vote of 9-6, with Mason and Lehman again voting with Republicans against the proposal.
