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A North Carolina law designed to make it easier for people to clear their criminal records has created an issue at the local law enforcement level.
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For a few more weeks, people can still look at arrest records in Wake County through an online portal, but there’s no immediate way of telling if those records have been cleared or not.
And on August 17, the portal will be deactivated.
The Second Chance Act, a state law passed in 2020, expanded the eligibility for “expunging” or clearing criminal records for certain misdemeanor convictions. It also automated the expungement of some dismissed charges.
The problem, said Sam Pennica, the director of the Wake County Bureau of Forensic Services, is that local agencies like his aren’t notified when these automatic expungements occur.
His agency deals with arrest records in Wake County in part because it also handles things like fingerprinting, DNA tests and mugshots.
The portal run by the bureau contains arrest logs dating back to its creation in 2007 and can show records that have technically been cleared.
Pennica said there have been 1.8 million automatic expungements statewide since the law took effect, but the state has not been able to tell him how many of those are in Wake County.
The North Carolina Judicial Branch did not immediately respond to The N&O’s questions about why local law enforcement isn’t notified about automatic expungements.
The older route for expungements lies through the court system, and the Bureau processes about 5,000 court-ordered expungements a year. Those records are removed from the portal and public access.
Getting a court to order an expungement often took a lawyer, and someone’s time and money, Pennica pointed out. Having a criminal record, even if someone was never found guilty, is not ideal, he said.
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That’s one reason the law was passed.
But the automatic expungements will still show up in the bureau’s portal. Pennica said.
Sometimes the bureau can remove them when people point out that expunged records are still there, but that doesn’t solve the issue, he said.
Currently, people post arrest records, including mugshots and other information, on social media.
At that point, it’s essentially out there forever, Pennica said. His agency has no control over that.
“We felt as though it would be in the best interest, particularly in the interest of the person whose records were expunged, to limit the exposure of these records,” he said. “That is, not putting it out on the internet where anyone in the world can see it.”
That’s why the portal is being taken down.
People can still go to the Wake County Justice Center to view arrest records at a kiosk or through the clerk, though.
And the Wake County Sheriff’s Office still maintains its jail intake records. Those records never show photos, and they don’t always show arrest or a person’s address like arrest records typically do.
The Sheriff’s Office has no plans to take down its intake records site, spokesperson Rosalia Fodera told The News & Observer.
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