Senate Bill 397 Summary

• Allows persons convicted of traffic violations under IC 9 to petition a sentencing court to restrict access to the relevant portion of their driving record, similar to existing restrictions on criminal records.

• Permits petitions eight years after a person completes their sentence and satisfies all other sentence obligations.

• Requires the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to prohibit release of restricted driving record information to noncriminal justice agencies without a court order.

• Establishes that defendants have a presumed complete defense in civil actions brought by plaintiffs with restricted records, unless the plaintiff proves the restricted records would not exonerate the defendant.

• Takes effect July 1, 2013.