Bill > S1644

This bill makes several changes related to victims of human trafficking and the admissibility of child victim statements in court. First, it raises the age of a child victim whose out-of-court statement describing certain criminal acts can be admitted as evidence from 11 to 16 years old, provided the statement is deemed reliable by the court and the child either testifies or is unavailable with corroborating evidence. Second, it creates a new process for victims of human trafficking to petition for the expunction, or removal, of criminal records that were a result of their victimization, allowing them to deny or not acknowledge these arrests after expunction, with certain exceptions. This new expunction process also allows for electronic appearances at hearings and clarifies that expunged records are considered vacated due to defects in the original proceedings. Finally, the bill includes an appropriation for the Department of Law Enforcement to cover programming costs associated with these changes and delays the requirement for law enforcement agencies to comply with expungement orders until March 1, 2014, with the act taking effect on July 1, 2013.