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a brief look at criminal records. Emily Baxter. Funding provided by the Emma B. Howe Memorial Foundation of The Minneapolis Foundation. The Council on Crime and Justice. Pop Quiz!. How many people in Minnesota are in prison, jail, on probation or on parole? A. 1 in 5 B. 1 in 18
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a brief look at criminal records Emily Baxter Funding provided by the Emma B. Howe Memorial Foundation of The Minneapolis Foundation The Council on Crime and Justice
Pop Quiz! • How many people in Minnesota are in prison, jail, on probation or on parole? • A. 1 in 5 • B. 1 in 18 • C. 1 in 26 • D. 1 in 31
How many people were under correctional control in Minnesota in 1982? • A. 1 in 8 • B. 1 in 28 • C. 1 in 76 • D. 1 in 98
correctional control in the states listed as they appear, top to bottom: probation, jail, parole, prison
Approximately how many Minnesotans come home from prison each year? • A. 3,000 • B. 7,000 • C. 12,000 • D. 13,000
Minnesota has the _____ highest rate of people under correctional control in the nation • A. 2nd • B. 8th • C. 23rd • D. 48th
How many people in Minnesota have a criminal record? • A. 1 in 4 • B. 1 in 12 • C. 1 in 24 • D. 1 in 32
In the mid-2000’s, African American males in Minnesota were arrested for drug-related offenses at a rate ______ times higher than White males • A. 1 • B. 10 • C. 100 • D. 1000
In Minnesota, African American / Black individuals comprise 35.4% of the incarcerated population and 4.6% of the general population • American Indian individuals comprise 6.8% of the incarcerated population and 1.2% of the general population
Juvenile records are private and are expunged once the youth turns 18. • True or False?
juvenile records don’t disappear • Some juvenile records are destroyed once the youth reaches the age of 28 • Some records are public
In 2009, how many children in Minnesota between the ages of 10 and 17 were arrested for serious offenses? • A. 110 • B. 1,100 • C. 11,000 • D. 110,000
One third of US Young Adults arrested by age 23 • 30.2 percent were arrested for an offense other than a minor traffic violation • Increase in arrests for drug-related offenses, zero-tolerance policies in school, and a more aggressive and punitive justice system Study published in 2011 Pediatrics journal
Only convictions appear on a criminal background report. • True or False?
Where Records are KEPT • Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) • Minnesota Court Information System (MNCIS) • Police Department • City Attorney • Sheriff’s Department • County Attorney • State Attorney General • Department of Corrections • Department of Human Services • Private data-miners • Private theft databases
Where Records are KEPT • BCA • MNCIS • FBI • Private data miners *Incomplete and inaccurate
WHAT Records Say • Levels: • Felony • Gross Misdemeanor • Misdemeanor • Petty Misdemeanor • Dispositions • Arrest • Dismissal • Stay of Adjudication • Stay of Imposition • Stay of Execution • Executed Sentence • Acquittal
disposition • Arrest • Dismissal = no probable cause • CFD = no plea, no conviction • SOA = no conviction • SOI = misdemeanor • SOE = no prison • Executed sentence = sit time
department of human services • Minnesota Statute 245C.15 • direct care to vulnerable people
seven • Misdemeanor: • Wrongfully obtaining assistance • Food stamp fraud • Issuance of dishonored checks • Criminal vehicular homicide • First through fifth degree assaults • Violation of an Order for Protection • Theft
ten • Gross misdemeanor: • Same as above, plus: • Disorderly house • Burglary • Possession of burglary tools
fifteen • Felony: • Same as above, plus: • Robbery • Terroristic threats • Chapter 152 • Any felony involving drugs or booze
permanent • Any level: • Agg. robbery, Crimsex, First degree arson • Felony level: • First or second degree assault, Malicious punishment, Neglect
burden • Preponderance of the evidence • Fifteen to thirty days to respond • Few conclusive findings; no traveling set asides
DHS Disqualifications • DHS disqualification process separate from court process for expungement • If a client gets a DHS disqualification letter, encourage the client to respond immediately and request a set-aside • If a client fails to respond to a DHS disqualification letter within the time permitted, the client forfeits his or her right to a hearing about the facts underlying the disqualification • A DHS set-aside request can proceed at the same time as a petition for expungement. The client must keep in mind that they are completely separate proceedings
Beyond Sanctions • According to a SHRM study conducted last year, approximately what percentage of employers are conducting criminal history reports on job applicants? • A. 32% • B. 54% • C. 78% • D. 92%
do you conduct criminal background checks for any job candidates? Note: n = 347. Not sure” responses were excluded from this analysis. Slide adapted from January 22, 2010 SHRM presentation titled: Background Checking: Conducting Criminal Background Checks 28
how influential is/would be the discovery of each of the following in your decision to NOT extend a job offer? Note: n=312. 29
Arrest Date: 2004/10/01 Historical Local ID#: Controlling Agency: MN0271110 MINEAPOLIS PD STATE ID NUMBER: MN0000000 FBI NUMBER: 00000000 Count: 1 Offense Date: Case Number: Type: MINNESOTA STATUTE Statute: 609.595S3 Charge: Criminal Damage to Property Other Statute: MN0000000 MOC/UOC: Disposition: HELD Court File: COMMENT: CONTRLD-SUB-STREET COURT DATE: 2005/01/16 MN00000000 HENNEPIN CO DISTRICT COURT CONFINEMENT AGENCY: PROBATION AGENCY: MN0000000 HENNEPIN CO PROBATION OFF COURT COUNT: 1 CASE NUMBER: 00000000 SENTENCED: 2005/01/16 STATUTE: 609.52S2 MOC/UOC: CHARGE: Criminal Damage to Property DISPOSITION: CONVICTED PLEA: Guilty SJIS NUM: COURT FILE NUMBER: 00000000 CONVICTION LEVEL: Misdemeanor SENTENCE --------------- PRONOUNCED SENTENCE : 60D NO SAME/SIMILAR PROBATION : 1Y IMPOS SENT STYD CONDITIONAL CONFINEMENT : RANDOM TESTING FINED : $128 COMMENT: CUSTODY SUPERVISION ------------------- DATE: 2006/01/21 AGENCY: MN0000000 HENNEPIN CO DISTRICT COURT CASE NUMBER: 00000000 CUSTODY ID NUMBER: 000000 CUSTODY ACTION: DISCHARGED CUSTODY START DATE: CUSTODY EXPIRATION DATE: OTHER: THIS OFFENSE IS DEEMED TO BE A MISDEMEANOR UNDER PROVISIONS OF M.S.A. 609.13. OTHER: ALL CIVIL RIGHTS ARE RESTORED AND FULL CITIZENSHIP WITH FULL RIGHT TO VOTE AND HOLD OFFICE THE SAME AS IF SAID CONVICTION HAD NOT TAKEN PLACE. THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO ANY OTHER CHARGES OF CONVICTIONS FOR WHICH SUBJECT MAY BE INCARCERATED, ON PROBATION, PAROLE OR SUPERVISED RELEASE. Note that Stays of Imposition are included in the BCA report
Arrest Date: 2006/04/29 Historical Local ID#: Controlling Agency: MN0271110 MINEAPOLIS PD STATE ID NUMBER: 00000000 FBI NUMBER: 000000 Count: 1 Offense Date: Case Number: Type: MINNESOTA STATUTE Statute: 609.52 Charge: Theft Other Statute: MOC/UOC: Disposition: HELD Court File: COMMENT: COURT DATE: 2006/05/17 CONFINEMENT AGENCY: PROBATION AGENCY: COURT COUNT: 1 CASE NUMBER: SENTENCED: STATUTE: 609.52 MOC/UOC: CHARGE: Theft DISPOSITION: DISMISSED PLEA: SJIS NUM: COURT FILE NUMBER: 00000000 CONVICTION LEVEL
What are employers asking? • Have you ever been convicted of an offense? • Have you ever been convicted of a felony? • Have you ever been arrested? • Are these questions generating useful answers?
Make sure to print out this first page And click and print each of the cases
How to get BCA Records • Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA): • Send a written request • Enclose a check or money order for $8.00 made payable to the BCA, and a self-addressed stamped envelope. • Response time is approximately two weeks.
Remedies/Responses • DHS Appeal • Correction of Records • Return of Arrest Records • Pardon Extraordinary • Statutory Expungement • Inherent Authority Expungement • Juvenile Record Expungement
Minn. Stat. § 299C.11:Return of Records • Arrest but no charge or • Charge but dismissal prior to a formal finding of probable cause and • No felony or gross misdemeanor conviction within the ten years prior to the arrest at issue.
Pardon Extraordinary Minn. Stat. §638.02 • Available for convictions only • No Juvenile Adjudications, Stays of Adjudication, or Petty Misdemeanors • Mandatory waiting period • Crime of Violence: 10 year conviction-free period • All other crimes: 5 year conviction-free period • Waiting period can be waived by Board of Pardons
Expungement in Minnesota • Court-ordered sealing of government-held records • Not destruction of a record • Sealed records may be opened for future investigation and prosecution, and for background checks for law enforcement positions.
Expungements • Juvenile and adult expungements • Two main types of adult expungements: Statutory and Inherent Authority • Two types of juvenile expungements: adjudications of delinquency and petty misdemeanors
Statutory (Minn. Stat. §609A) • 1. Certain controlled substance offenses. • 2. Juveniles prosecuted as adults. • 3. Certain criminal proceedings not resulting in conviction. • All charges in the case resolved entirely in the petitioner’s favor
Statutory – Minn. Stat. §609A • Expungement prohibited. • Where predatory offense registration is required: • Murder, kidnapping, crim sex, etc. • It is unlikely that many traffic, family matters, and open files will be expunged. (Motion to seal records)
Statutory - Resolved In Favor • Dismissals and acquittals • Dismissal of grand jury indictment. State v. K.M.M., 721 N.W.2d 330 (Minn. Ct. App. 2006). • Dismissed, separate incidents or charges where petitioner plead guilty to other separate incidents or charges. State v. JRA, 714 N.W.2d 722 (Minn. Ct. App. 2006). • Continuances for dismissal. State v. C.P.H. , 707 N.W.2d 699 (Minn. Ct. App. 2006) where no guilty plea was entered. • Arrests without charges, where not otherwise eligible for 299C.11. • Never pleading guilty, admitting guilt, or being found guilty.
Not Resolved In Favor • Being found guilty or pleading guilty, even if not accepted by the court. §609A.02, Subd. 3; State v. A.C.H., 710 N.W.2d 587 (Minn. Ct. App. 2006). • Admissions of guilt as a pre-requisite to diversionary programs & deferred guilty pleas. State v. J.Y.M., 711 N.W.2d 139 (Minn. Ct. App. 2006). • Being found not guilty by reason of insanity. 609A.02, Subd. 3 • Stay of adjudication. State v. Davisson, 624 N.W.2d 292 (Minn. Ct. App. 2001). • Alford plea, where the defendant admitted there was sufficient evidence to convict, but maintained innocence. State v. Henkensiefken, 2005 WL 1431913 (Minn. Ct. App. 2005).
RIF vs. non-RIF:Why is this distinction important? • Separation of Powers • The statute allows the judge to order ALL government records • In many cases, inherent authority seals only court records