Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2015

Publication Citation

117 West Virginia Law Review Online 63

Abstract

Ninety-two million Americans have a criminal record—nearly one in three adults. This criminal record can include an arrest that did not lead to a conviction, a conviction for which the person did not serve time in prison, or a conviction for a nonviolent crime. All can have a similar impact on an individual’s job prospects and on local economies. Incarcerating adult Americans costs a combined $68 billion annually at the local, state, and federal levels. The cost of lost wages and lost financial contributions to society by ex-offenders is even higher.

This financially immobilized population of former offenders may be permanently unemployable. In response, a majority of states have created statutes to permit select offenders a new chance. These states grant that after a waiting period and good behavior, ex-offenders may apply to have their convictions sealed or “set aside.” These expungements remove the conviction from public records, lifting the stigma and the resulting barriers to employment.

This Article examines expungement in general, and the expungement statute in West Virginia in particular. Section I considers the historical basis of the West Virginia expungement statute, while Section II explains in detail the current West Virginia statute. Section III describes the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction in West Virginia, leading to incentives for modifying our expungement statute in Section IV. These benefits include supporting local economies and reducing recidivism. Section V concludes by comparing and contrasting West Virginia’s statute to other states and then by providing suggestions for modifying the West Virginia expungement statute. Support for reform of the statute comes from data on the impact of expungements on communities, on government fiscal responsibilities and capabilities, and on the ultimate impact on the functioning of our state criminal justice system. In line with the Justice Reinvestment Act, expungement reform is a next step along our path of broader prison changes in West Virginia.

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