SB178 Summary

• Authorizes persons charged with misdemeanor offenses to petition for record expungement when charges are dismissed with prejudice, no-billed by grand jury, or result in acquittal.

• Requires petitioner to file sworn statement under penalty of perjury and serve prosecuting authority; prosecutor has 45 days to object or is deemed to consent to expungement.

• Establishes $75 administrative filing fee distributed as $25 each to district/municipal attorney's office, court clerk's office, and Alabama Department of Public Safety; allows indigent applicants to request payment plans.

• Upon expungement order, court must order destruction of all records held by court and law enforcement agencies, which must certify completion within 120 days; expunged proceedings deemed never to have occurred and need not be disclosed on employment or credit applications.

• Court has discretion to consider eight factors when objections are filed, including offense nature, age at time of offense, rehabilitation evidence, and probation/parole records; ruling subject to certiorari review only for abuse of discretion.