April 30, 2025
Ms. Lee of Florida (for herself, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Norton, Mr. McGarvey, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Rutherford, and Ms. Scanlon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
To amend the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to establish grants for States for purposes of modernizing criminal justice data infrastructure to facilitate automated record sealing and expungement, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Fresh Start Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. Implementation of expungement laws
Section 106(b) of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40302(b)) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (1)—
(A)
in subparagraph (C), by striking and
at the end;
(B)
in subparagraph (D), by striking the period and inserting ; and
; and
(C)
by adding at the end the following:
(E)
to implement a covered expungement law.; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following:
(3) Covered expungement laws
In this subsection:
(A)
The term
automaticmeans, with regard to the expungement or sealing of a criminal record, that such expungement or sealing occurs without any action required on the part of the State from an eligible individual.(B)
The term
covered expungement lawmeans a law of a State providing for the automatic expungement or sealing, subject to such requirements as the State may impose (including provisions ensuring continued access to the expunged or sealed material by courts and law enforcement agencies), of a criminal record of an individual, without delay by reason of a failure to pay a fee or fine.(4) Reporting requirements
(A) In general
A State receiving a grant under this section shall report to the Attorney General, each year of the grant term, pursuant to guidelines established by the Attorney General, information regarding the following:
(i)
The number of individuals eligible for automatic expungement or sealing under the covered expungement law of that State, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender.
(ii)
The number of individuals whose records have been expunged or sealed annually since the enactment of such law, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender.
(iii)
The number of individuals whose application for expungement or sealing under such law are still pending, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender.
(B) Inaccessibility of data for reporting
In the event that elements of the data on expungement and sealing required to be reported under subparagraph (A)(i) are not able to be compiled and reported, the State shall develop and report a comprehensive plan to obtain as much of the unavailable data as possible not later than the date that is one year after the first year of the grant being awarded.
(C) Publication
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and each year thereafter, the Attorney General shall publish, and make available to the public, a report containing the data reported to the Attorney General under this subparagraph.