Fairfax County and other localities across the state may get more time to address state-mandated limits on public accessibility for some criminal records.
Legislation moving toward likely adoption in the Virginia General Assembly will give local governments an additional 12 months — until July 1, 2026 — to implement changes to the current expungement process that had been mandated four years ago.
That would be good news for counties and cities that are lagging in preparations and funding, despite having several years’ notice that automatic record-sealing and other changes were coming.
“The extra year, obviously, is a positive,” Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw said when the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors convened for a legislative committee meeting on Jan. 31.
The General Assembly adopted a bill in 2021 under Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam that established a process for local courts to automatically seal certain criminal records dating back to 1960, including ones for offenses that were dismissed, acquittals and deferred dispositions.
Convictions for select nonviolent misdemeanors such as simple marijuana possession, trespassing, shoplifting and underage drinking could also be sealed after seven years, as long as the individual hasn’t gotten any new convictions during that time.
The law also expanded the kinds of offenses that could be expunged, or sealed, with a court petition.
Advocates who pushed Virginia to reform its expungement process, which traditionally was only available in cases where the charges were dropped or the person was found not guilty or pardoned, say it will help those who have served their time and completed rehabilitation, but still struggle to find employment, housing and other necessities due to their criminal history.
Since the 2021 law was adopted, the Fairfax County Circuit Court has already seen an increase in petitions from people seeking to have criminal records removed from public view, but an automatic sealing system didn’t need to be in place until July 1, 2025.
That would change if two companion bills currently working their way through the General Assembly get passed and signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin:
- SB1466, patroned by Virginia Sen. Scott Surovell (D-34), passed the Senate on a 25-15 vote and now awaits action in the House Committee for Courts of Justice.
- HB2723, patroned by Del. Charniele Herring (D-4), passed the House of Delegates on an 89-7 vote and moved over to the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice.
In addition to delaying the implementation date by a year, the bills would also narrow the time frame of records eligible for automatic sealing to ones dating back to 1986.
At the Jan. 31 legislative committee meeting, representatives from the Fairfax County Police Department, Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office and circuit court clerk’s office said they need to hire additional staff, upgrade technology and take other steps to meet the expungement requirements.
It is a “huge endeavor,” a representative from the clerk’s office told the supervisors.
The year’s delay will assist in the implementation, but county leaders continue to be concerned that much of the funding required to make the changes will have to come from local taxpayers.
The bills make “a marginal improvement” but don’t solve the fundamental issue of funding, Walkinshaw said.
“This kicks the can down the road a little bit,” he said.
The problem isn’t just future costs, but the “significant costs” that have already been incurred by the county, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said.
Several budget amendments introduced in the General Assembly aim to shift some of the burden from localities to the state government. The final amount of any state funds would be determined in negotiations between legislators and the governor.
Both Surovell and Herring’s bills were amended before passing their originating chambers, making it a conference committee will be needed to iron out any differences. Youngkin also could weigh in through amendments, if the measures get to his desk.
The Board of Supervisors will get another crack at discussing the bills’ prospects and impact at their next legislative committee meeting, slated for Friday (Feb. 14). The committee’s scheduled meeting last Friday (Feb. 7) was canceled.
