Bevin orders immediate 4.5 percent cuts to universities, colleges

FRANKFORT – Kentucky Republican Gov. Matt Bevin Wednesday called on the Republican Senate to pass a bill to expunge the records of non-violent felons – a measure which has repeatedly passed the Democratic House but died in the Senate.

The measure is supported by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the chambers of the state’s two largest cities, Louisville and Lexington because, chamber officials, said employers have a hard time finding qualified employees.

That and Bevin’s support for a measure sponsored by Rep. Darryl Owens, D-Louisville, has given supporters hope it will pass this year, but the Senate’s top two leaders expressed reservations Wednesday, although they did not rule out passage.

“Until I see the details, I’m going to be a little cautious,” said Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown.  He said he would support such a measure “in concept” but wants to make certain the level of crime and the waiting period are acceptable before saying he’ll support the bill.

But Thayer said there is a bipartisan “willingness to look at some sort of expungement, depending on what level of crime and how long ago it occurred.”

Owens’ bill provides a five-year waiting period which begins only after completion of all terms of a sentence and during which the felon cannot commit another crime.

It would affect about 94,000 Kentuckians who’ve been convicted of Class D, non-violent felonies.  Many are like Rebecca Collette, 32, who became a drug addict in high school and pregnant during her senior year.

The Harlan County native sold drugs to support her own habit and was subsequently convicted of trafficking in a controlled substance. She landed in a Hardin County jail where she received substance abuse treatment and eventually release.

The happiest day for Collette came when she was finally reunited with her two children.

“But what I didn’t know was my sentence was far from over,” she said during a Capitol Rotunda news conference.

Her felony conviction followed her on housing, education and employment applications. She’s not allowed to attend parent-child activities at her daughter’s school. She was initially denied admission to college.

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you’re just sitting there,” Collette said.

She persevered and will soon graduate with a Masters in Social Work, but she wants lawmakers to know how difficult it sometimes is to overcome a youthful mistake committed 20 years ago.

Like Thayer, Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, reserved judgment, saying he has some unresolved questions.

“There’s a lot of discussion about restoration of civil rights and expungement,” Stivers said. “There’s a major difference between restoration of civil rights and expungement.�

He said he doesn’t know how such a bill might affect records of state crimes which become part of a national crime data base for instance.

Stivers said expungement means “you are still convicted but your record is cleared.”

That’s likely to be the sticking point because Owens and other supporters say expungement means the crime “never happened. It doesn’t exist.” And, Owens said, if it “never happened” then the affected person is not covered by the state constitution’s stripping of voting rights for felons.

That’s an argument Thayer isn’t ready to accept either.

“I look at restoration of voting rights as a separate issue from expungement and I personally do not want to tie them together,” Thayer said.

Thayer has killed House-passed measures to amend the constitution to automatically restore voting rights for low-level felons who’ve completed their sentences because the measure didn’t include a five-year waiting period.

Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.