MS HB1353

First-time felony offenders may petition the circuit court to expunge their conviction from all public records after successfully completing all terms and conditions of their sentence, excluding murder and rape convictions

Expunged records restore the person to the legal status they held before arrest, meaning they are not required to disclose the conviction and cannot be charged with perjury for failing to acknowledge it

A nonpublic record of expunged convictions must be retained solely to determine first-offender status in future proceedings

Persons called as prospective jurors must advise the court in camera of any previous conviction and expunction, and the court must inform attorneys of this information before jury selection

The act amends existing Mississippi statutes governing controlled substance violations (41-29-150), general expunction procedures (99-15-57), and misdemeanor/limited felony expunctions (99-19-71) to conform with the new provisions