![]() ![]() Eventually she would like the fee to reflect only the cost of processing the application.If you are experiencing sexual harassment, discrimination or retaliation at work, it can be tempting to try to catch a harasser in the act by secretly recording the misconduct using a cell phone or other device. ![]() The $100 reduction is a baby step, she said. It had wide bipartisan support, but never made it to the floor because it would have reduced overall income by $88,000.Īkbari is undeterred and plans to reintroduce it next year. A recent bill, sponsored by Akbari, would have lowered it by $100. ![]() The relatively small revenue stream provided by the expungement fee has complicated legislative reform. “The real battle is at the statehouse,” he said. A similar fund run by Just City, which eventually paid for Bill’s expungement, has underwritten 70 applicants since its launch three years ago - a modest gain, said Josh Spickler, the Just City executive director. At a fundraising event in February, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland raised $55,000 in private donations to cover the cost of expungement for indigent applicants. Public awareness of the issue is gaining momentum in Tennessee. The lack of income is tied to the fact that few would-be applicants can afford to apply, Akbari said. In reality, it has generated only about $130,000 each year according to an analysis by a criminal justice nonprofit, Just City. At the time, the official estimate was that the law would raise $7 million for the state annually. The prospect of revenue is exactly why Tennessee lawmakers were persuaded to pass felony expungement legislation in 2012, said State Representative Raumesh Akbari, a Democrat. In Kentucky, it will be a full 90 percent. Fifty-five percent of the cash collected in Tennessee goes into the state’s general fund. In Tennessee and Kentucky, bloated prices have little to do with processing the application, but rather the state revenue they were designed to produce. But, she said, “These agencies are not getting the funding that they need to function, so it’s hard to ask them to bring it down.” “We were pretty vocal that this was an impossible cost,” said Wheeler of recent reform discussions. ![]() Tennessee’s $450 is trumped by Louisiana's $550 fee, and as of July, Kentucky will charge $500. Of the 17 states that do so, the application fee is generally in line with standard court fees. Most laws only included misdemeanor convictions or arrest records.Ī growing number of states are including some low-level, non-violent felonies. Between 20, 31 states and Washington, D.C., established or expanded expungement laws. In recent years, increased attention to the connection between these restrictions, which make it difficult to lead a stable life, and recidivism has spurred lawmakers in states across the country to pass legislation affording those with a conviction or an arrest a clean slate, according to a Vera Institute report. A record also bars employment in a number of fields and any job that involves working with children. In Tennessee, there are 958 restrictions based on a criminal record, including disqualification for any state-funded student loan or grant. While a gun permit may be discretionary, a decent job or money for an education are crucial, and for many people once convicted of a crime, Tennessee’s high fee has put expungement out of the reach. But the Tennessee legislature wanted money for the state’s general fund, so it set the fee much higher. Many states charge $150 or less to apply for expungement, the legal term for clearing a criminal record, and some states offer a waiver if the applicant is too poor to pay. I’d have to give up something, maybe eating, and I really like doing that,” Bill said. On the list of fees at the Shelby County Criminal Court, expungement is by far the most expensive. ![]()
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