A woman in Iowa had debt associated with an unauthorized credit card use case. She paid the debt off, then tried to have the charge removed from her record. The courts denied this request, however, saying she had to pay off the debts from other cases before they could expunge anything.
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that this goes against the purpose of expunction and that people should be able to clear their records when they’ve met the requirements. The ruling states:
“Nowhere does the statute indicate the relevant consideration for expungement is the defendant’s total court-ordered financial obligations to the particular county in which the application was filed. The statute does not even use the word ‘county.’ In our view, the State’s interpretation is actually contrary to the purpose of the statute.”
The ruling also notes that potential employers could draw “inappropriate inferences from the mere presence of a criminal file.” Iowa’s Supreme Court ultimately granted the woman’s petition to vacate the district court’s order denying her an expunction.
Hats off to Iowa for this great decision. Expunctions are allowed for a reason, and we shouldn’t make it more difficult for hard-working citizens to try to obtain them. If someone is motivated to make good decisions and improve their circumstances, why should they be forced to carry the burden of old criminal records?
If you think we can help you clear something off your record, we’d love to take a look at your case and see what we can do. Give us a call at 1 (877) 599-6483 to get started!
