The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry is backing legislation to reduce recidivism by expanding access to expungement, helping eligible individuals clear their criminal records and move forward with a clean slate.
This week the Missouri Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee heard testimony on HB 2747, sponsored by Rep. Bishop Davidson (R-Republic).
“The idea behind this is that for those who have served their sentence, we want to reintegrate them into society and our economy and show them we believe in second chances,” Davidson said.
The bill would replace Missouri’s current petition-based expungement process with an automated criminal record expungement process for certain non-violent offenses. Over 500,000 criminal cases could be affected.
“House Bill 2747 creates a pathway to optimize and enhance Missouri’s expungement process, making it easier for individuals to reenter the workforce and reintegrate into society,” said Missouri Chamber Director of Government Affairs Chance Hepola.
In 2022, the Missouri Chamber released a public safety report, Safer Missouri, Stronger Missouri, which includes recommendations to address crime in our state, including reducing recidivism among those on probation and parole. A streamlined expungement process would also help remove barriers to employment, housing and education for justice-involved individuals.
For more information, contact Hepola at chepola@mochamber.com or call (573) 634-3511.
