Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed the bipartisan Clean Slate bill to provide low-level criminal offenders second chance to succeed in life.
The legislation allows automatic sealing of criminal records of those who committed minor criminal offenses, served their sentence and had no subsequent criminal arrests for ten years
Additionally, the Clean Slate bill enables a person to petition the courts to seal his/her records. The petitioner must be free from conviction for 10 years for an offense that resulted to a year or more in prison and paid all court-ordered financial debts.
The legislation does not allow the sealing of criminal records involving serious crimes including firearms charges, murder, kidnapping, sexual offenses, and others.
In a statement, Gov. Wolf said he is “proud to sign” the Clean Slate bill. He emphasized that the legislation will make it easier for those who have interacted with the justice system to get a job and house. It will “reduce the stigma” associated with their criminal records.
