CS/CS/HB 205 - Diversion Programs Summary

• Creates a voluntary prearrest diversion program for adults committing qualifying misdemeanors, allowing law enforcement officers to issue civil citations instead of arrests if the offender has no prior arrests and agrees they committed the offense.

• Adults issued citations must complete intake, receive assessment and intervention services, perform community service hours, and pay restitution to victims; successful completion prevents any arrest record from being associated with the offense.

• Law enforcement may criminally charge and prosecute adults who fail to complete the diversion program for the original offense.

• Requires representatives of participating law enforcement agencies, program services providers, public defenders, state attorneys, and circuit court clerks to jointly develop program policies, procedures, eligibility criteria, and fee structures.

• Amends expunction laws for minors to require (rather than authorize) the Department of Law Enforcement to expunge nonjudicial arrest records upon successful completion of diversion programs, and eliminates the $75 processing fee; creates data collection requirements for diversion programs with reporting by race, ethnicity, gender, age, offense, and judicial circuit.

• Effective date: July 1, 2017.