WE NEED YOU! JOIN OUR NEW KBA PRO BONO SECOND CHANCE INITIATIVE

Criminal records can make it difficult to find a job, secure permanent housing, and reunite with children. A recent client, Thomas, was released from jail in the fall and was determined to live a law-abiding life. Because he was living in a homeless shelter, he applied for public housing. The public housing authority denied his application because of an old, dismissed charge for trespassing on public housing property. Once the dismissed charge was expunged, Thomas reapplied, and he now lives in a public housing apartment and has a job at a local event venue. Expunging charges can have a tremendous impact on someone’s life.

Over the last decade, Tennessee’s expungement statute – T.C.A.§ 40-32-101 – has expanded to help remove obstacles created by a criminal record. In 2012, the legislature added section (g) to the statute to allow individuals to expunge an eligible misdemeanor or Class E-felony conviction after a five-year waiting period.1 In 2017, the statute added section (k) to allow up to two eligible convictions to be expunged, and in 2021, the legislature added certain Class C- and D-felonies to the list of eligible offenses with a 10-year waiting period.2

Last July, the newest revision to the expungement statute significantly expanded eligibility for people with convictions. Prior to this amendment, once a criminal record had an ineligible conviction, no convictions were eligible for expungement. The revised section, T.C.A.§ 40-32-101(g)(2)(A)(i), now allows individuals to expunge an eligible conviction, as long as that conviction occurred before a conviction that is ineligible.3

Expungement is a powerful tool: When a charge or conviction is expunged, all public records are destroyed, and expungement “has the legal effect of restoring the petitioner… to the same status occupied before the arrest, indictment, information, trial, or conviction.”4 Once expunged, “the conviction of the expunged offense never occurred, and the person shall not suffer any adverse effects or direct disabilities.”5

As the statute expands to offer more Tennesseans relief, it has become more complicated to interpret. So the need for pro bono attorneys who can offer legal advice has never been greater. Responding to this need, the Reentry Subcommittee of the KBA’s Access to Justice Committee is launching a new Second Chance Initiative to help more people expunge eligible dismissals and convictions.

To engage busy lawyers from a range of practice areas, the KBA Second Chance Initiative has designed three pro bono pathways for lawyers to choose from:

Expungement Community Court Pro Bono Volunteers – If you like working one-on-one with clients at a weeknight event, this is the pathway for you! Pro bono lawyers at the Expungement Community Court will be assigned clients to help individually. After reviewing the client’s Knox County criminal history, you will give advice about expunging convictions, help draft and argue motions to waive costs and fees, discuss driver’s license reinstatement and voter restoration, and expunge dismissed cases, diversions, and eligible convictions.

Attorney Expungement Days – If you like working with a group of lawyers to analyze cases and draft documents, this is the pathway for you! LAET Director of Pro Bono Caitlin Torney and her law student interns will conduct intake at local non-profits, pull the client’s criminal records and cost sheets, and work with the court clerk to prepare dismissal expungement petitions. Over pizza one afternoon after work, pro bono lawyers will then get together to analyze these records, discuss case strategy, and help clients by preparing conviction expungement petitions, drafting motions to waive costs and fees, and advising clients about civil rights restoration.

The Conviction Expungement Circle – If you want to focus on expunging convictions (as opposed to dismissed cases), this pathway is for you! As the statute expands eligibility each year, it is no simple task to determine if a person is eligible to expunge a conviction, especially for people with more complicated criminal histories. And yet most clients really want advice about removing convictions from their records. Pro bono attorneys in the Conviction Expungement Circle will fill this access to justice gap, taking on client referrals through the UT Legal Clinic at times in the year when you can take on a pro bono case.

All volunteer attorneys will be covered under LAET’s malpractice coverage and receive CLE credit for the time they spend on these cases. The Second Chance Initiative will prepare pro bono lawyers to do this work. We have developed a free dual-credit expungement CLE to equip pro bono lawyers with the necessary legal knowledge to provide the in-depth legal advice required by each pathway.

The training will occur on zoom this summer and focus on:

• Expunging dismissed cases and diversions;

• Waiving court costs and expungement fees;

• Expunging eligible convictions;

• Restoring Voter Rights;

• Reinstating a person’s driver’s license; and

• Filing Petitions for Certificates of Employability and Civil Rights Restoration.

The training will also offer lawyers access to a Dropbox folder with statutes, templates, and other resources. The training modules will be available to review after the training so pro bono lawyers can rewatch segments that relate to legal issues presented by their pro bono cases. Volunteer attorneys will have access to mentors to help with questions as questions arise.

To participate in the KBA’s Second Chance Initiative, we ask each volunteer lawyer to take on one case this year or attend one of the two summer expungement clinics.

The latest expansion of the expungement statute has opened the door to expungement for many Tennesseans. To help them, we need you!

If you are interested in signing up for the free CLE or just want to learn more, please fill out this survey linked to the QR code or email Caitlin Torney at ctorney@ laet.org. We will be in touch soon to get you started!

1 T.C.A. § 40-32-101(g) (2012).

2 T.C.A. § 40-32-101(g)(2)(B)(ii), (g)(2)(D)-(E) (2021), and T.C.A. § 40-32-101(k) (2017).

3 T.C.A. § 40-32-101(g)(2)(A)(ii).

4 tenn. Code Ann. § 40-32-101(g)(15)(B).

5 tenn. Code Ann. § 40-32-101(g)(15)(D).

By: Mark E. Stephens Stephens, Dirado & Caviness, LLP