Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Courts wiping slate clean
State program sealing arrest and conviction records for non-violent, low-level offenders
WEST CHESTER >> Imagine you are a West Chester University graduate, Class of 2010. When you were a sophomore in 2008, you had too much to drink one night and shoplifted a bunch of stuff from the local grocery store. The thought of the arrest still haunts you.
But you admitted your mistake, pleaded guilty in court, and served the probation order by the judge without any problems.
Now, 11 years later, you’ve settled down, gotten married, and started a family. You’ve also applied for a new job that would help secure your family’s financial future. But that college arrest hangs over you like a cloud, and you are nervous that your chances at getting the job will be scuttled by a quick background check.
Relax. Yolanda Van de Krol has a plan for that.
Actually, its not just Van De Krol who is in on the plan, but ev
ery county Clerk of Courts across Pennsylvania. All are beginning the process of sealing the arrest and conviction records for non-violent, low level offenders under the state’s new “Clean Slate” program, which went into effect last month.
“Things like these can follow people for the rest of their lives,” said van de Krol last week, discussing the Clean Slate work her staff has undertaken in the past month, sealing the records of some 150,000 people and almost 300,000 offenses in the county.
“What is so great about this legislation is that now the records will be sealed” and people can finally “move on” with their lives, she said. People whose employment, housing, or financial futures were affected by long ago arrests will now see that black cloud drift
away.
Chester County has joined all other counties across the state of Pennsylvania in automatically sealing non-violent criminal records and non-convictions for anyone who has remained crimefree for 10 years. Because of the Clean Slate legislation, no longer will people have to file motions and pay to seal their records, as long as they meet the law’s criteria.
“In Chester County alone, 2 million people will have their low-level offenses or non-convictions automatically sealed in the next year. That means we are sealing about 163,000 cases every month for the next year to clean up the backlog of cases,” said Van de Krol in a press release. “It is very exciting to be at the forefront of this type of criminal justice reform. Because of Clean Slate, a mistake will no longer define a person’s life and limit their opportunities.
“And people won’t even know we’re doing it,” she
said. The process takes place under a schedule from the state.
Van de Krol said she was most pleased with the idea that those records of arrests that did not lead to convictions, or which were dismissed by a judge or withdrawal by the prosecution, will now be sealed from public view.
Van de Krol pointed out that a person’s criminal record will not be expunged, unless the defendant asks a court to order such a removal - as is permitted for those who completed the county’s diversionary sentencing program for first time drunk drivers say. They will remain visible to law enforcement and judicial officers and can still be seen on FBI background checks, used by schools, hospitals and casinos — employers for whom a lack of a criminal background is essential.
Since June 28, when the law took effect, Van de Krol’s staff has sealed
about 160,000 cases. “It’s remarkably easy,” she said. The state sends a list of cases to be sealed, a clerk in the office uploads the list and presents it to President Judge Jacqueline Carroll Cody for her approval, and the list is sealed.
“Within minutes, they are sealed,” said Van de Krol’s chief deputy, Kirsten Schurr.
“I think we are really helping people who are not so savvy about their rights,” Van de Krol said. “And we are doing it at no cost to them.”
The Clean Slate legislation passed in July of 2018. The first phase began in December and allowed for people who had old misdemeanors on their records and who had not been in trouble for a decade to apply for their records to be sealed. Chester County is in the top five counties in Pennsylvania for volume of cases.