Legislation

The Council on Crime and Justice developed and sponsored legislation in the 2006 Minnesota Legislative session that proposed to reclassify certain criminal justice records as private data, inaccessible to third parties such as employers and landlords, but available for law enforcement purposes. (H.F. 3345; S.F. 3078).

Criminal records, whether resulting from a conviction or a simple arrest, are easily accessed electronically, and are routinely used as screening mechanisms by employers, housing managers, credit agencies, and educational institutions, among others. To compound the issue, the distinction between a conviction and an arrest is often unclear when examining an individual's record. The impact of this is enormous.

The proposed bill offered a balanced approach to alleviate the negative consequences of certain criminal records without jeopardizing its availability for use by law enforcement.

The bill focused on records of arrest not leading to prosecution. (i.e. dismissals or acquittals).

The Council on Crime and Justice will introduce a similar bill in the 2007 legislative session.

If you are interested is supporting the Council's legislative efforts or want more information please contact our advocacy coordinator, Guy Gambill at: gambillg@crimeandjustice.org.