Editor,

Melissa Snyder should be commended on the story "Convictions Can Be Expunged, but the process can be difficult" and infograph "Steps to Expungement" in the April 23 issue of The Post. One-time offenders should educate themselves about the law that allows them to seek an expungement of that single offense.

I feel obliged to point out one correction and to add some additional facts about the law. The infograph describes the $50 filing fee as a fine. Actually, the law assumes the offender should pay the costs of receiving the benefit of expungement, not the taxpayers. The $50 is not a fine. Expungement requires record checks and record changes. The $50 is a modest fee.

Potential applicants should be aware that the one-year waiting period for a misdemeanor (three years for a felony) begins to run from the closure of the offender's case. If you have a misdemeanor assault case, pay a fine and serve one year of probation, the one-year waiting period begins to run at the close of probation, not the date of the sentencing.

In 20 years of practice, I have seen only one judge deny an expungement request. He was a neophyte judge in a rural county. He had never heard of the expungement law until I applied for a client. He simply decided he could not in good conscience grant such a petition. The law gave him that discretion. Otherwise, most judges consider the law to grant the relief to true one-time offenders who have learned the error of their ways. If an offender is granted an expungement and commits a subsequent offense, the expunged offense might return to the offender's record. The familiarity of officials with the offender's history may determine whether the expunged offense ever resurfaces.

This law deals with adult offenses. Juvenile records are sealed under a separate law that protects juveniles. Most juvenile courts routinely issue orders of expungement on old cases. The juvenile rules allow offenders to petition Juvenile Court for an expungement as a matter of record. This might grant some additional security, although in most cases it is unnecessary.

A formally granted expungement permits the offender to claim legally he/she never committed the offense.

Thomas E. Fox, Jr.

Acting Judge, Mason Municipal Court

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