Federal · Title 18 — Crimes and Criminal Procedure

18 U.S.C. § 3607: Special probation and expungement procedures for drug possessors

Civil

What this law says, in plain English

This statute establishes special probation and expungement procedures for certain drug possession offenders, allowing eligible individuals to have records sealed and convictions treated as if they never occurred.

Read the full statutory text
has not, prior to the commission of such offense, been convicted of violating a Federal or State law relating to controlled substances; and has not previously been the subject of a disposition under this subsection; A nonpublic record of a disposition under subsection (a), or a conviction that is the subject of an expungement order under subsection (c), shall be retained by the Department of Justice solely for the purpose of use by the courts in determining in any subsequent proceeding whether a person qualifies for the disposition provided in subsection (a) or the expungement provided in subsection (c). A disposition under subsection (a), or a conviction that is the subject of an expungement order under subsection (c), shall not be considered a conviction for the purpose of a disqualification or a disability imposed by law upon conviction of a crime, or for any other purpose. If the case against a person found guilty of an offense under section 404 of the Controlled Substances Act ( 21 U.S.C. 844 ) is the subject of a disposition under subsection (a), and the person was less than twenty-one years old at the time of the offense, the court shall enter an expungement order upon the application of such person. The expungement order shall direct that there be expunged from all official records, except the nonpublic records referred to in subsection (b), all references to his arrest for the offense, the institution of criminal proceedings against him, and the results thereof. The effect of the order shall be to restore such person, in the contemplation of the law, to the status he occupied before such arrest or institution of criminal proceedings. A person concerning whom such an order has been entered shall not be held thereafter under any provision of law to be guilty of perjury, false swearing, or making a false statement by reason of his failure to recite or acknowledge such arrests or institution of criminal proceedings, or the results thereof, in response to an inquiry made of him for any purpose.

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