Committee on Public Safety
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Sealing is a process by which a former criminal offender can apply to have his or her record closed to most viewers, thereby removing one of the most significant barriers to employment; and
WHEREAS, An ex-offender can obtain record sealing through an adversarial process in court, whereby the candidate submits an application to a judge; and
WHEREAS, All affected parties, including the candidate, the State's Attorney, the State Police, the arresting agency, and the chief legal officer of the municipality effecting the arrest would receive notice of the application and would be permitted to oppose the record sealing; and
WHEREAS, The presiding judge then uses judicial discretion to decide if the record sealing is appropriate; and
WHEREAS, Record sealing would not preempt law enforcement from seeing all convictions and arrest records; and
WHEREAS, Certain employers, such as school boards, Department of Children and Family Services, private carrier companies that provide public transportation and financial institutions are still able to access sealed records; and
WHEREAS, Currently, state law limits record sealing to only about fifteen Class 3 and 4 felony offenses; and
WHEREAS, Among those offenses not currently eligible for record sealing is misdemeanor public indecency, which disproportionately affects indigent and homeless whose actions should not preempt them from attempting to change their circumstances; and
WHEREAS, The Safer Foundation published a study in 2008 that illustrated the importance of re-entry services to limit the level of recidivism among ex-offenders; and
WHEREAS, According to the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council, 48% of those released from prison each year recidivate within three years of release and 19% will recidivate within one year of release; and
WHEREAS, Each recidivism event in Illinois costs $118,746, with a total 5 year cost of $16.7 billion to the Sta...
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