The Assembly Judiciary Committee was told Wednesday if someone is arrested but later completely exonerated, the records of their arrest should be destroyed so they don’t have to report being arrested on job and other applications.
Assemblyman Alexander Assefa, D-Las Vegas, said AB315 would entirely delete the records of someone who was “determined by a court of jurisdiction and arresting agency or the district attorney that the arrestee was the wrong person.” He said in that case, the arrest record should be entirely deleted.
“If the arrest was wrongful, the court shall approve the application to delete the record,” the bill states.
Assefa said once those records are deleted, the person wouldn’t have to report the arrest on a job application or other document.
But Judiciary Chairman Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, said lawmakers still haven’t found a way to deal with records that get posted on numerous websites because they have no way to ensure those postings are taken down if someone is exonerated.
Chuck Callaway of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and John Jones of the Nevada DA’s Association both said they support the bill, which they said would “seal” the records.
But Mindy McKay of the Criminal History Repository said sealing the records doesn’t delete or destroy them. She said sealed records are still in the system. She said her agency suggested the language to “delete” the records because then they would no longer be part of the repository files.
Representatives of both the Washoe and Clark County Public Defenders offices also supported the bill.
The committee took no action on AB315.
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