Limitations on the Use of Arrest Records 
Society has an interest in maintaining criminal histories for the purpose of future crime investigations and in order to make hiring, rental and other decisions about people. More than 80% of companies perform background checks on applicants, and criminal histories are becoming easier to find on the Internet.
While it is important to protect members of our society from harm, it’s also important that we allow people who have been arrested or convicted of a crime to re-enter society with as few barriers as possible so they can live a productive, successful life. Failing to find a job or stable housing can be a precursor to returning to criminal behavior.
Currently, if people want to have their criminal records expunged, they are forced to navigate a complicated and confusing legal process that has a very limited chance of success, even for low-level, non-violent offenses or arrests that never led to a conviction.
Outcomes
On May 12th, the Governor signed HF 2996 into law. This bill provides funding for a study that would look at changing sentencing guidelines for certain first time drug offenders.
The most positive pieces of the legislation, which would have worked to eliminate "collateral sanctions" - those impediments to housing, employment, and other services that ex-offenders so often face- and would have directed the Department of Corrections to assess the need for re-entry facilities for ex-offenders, were amended out of the bill.
