Tennessee should reduce expungement fee for ex-felons

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland Wednesday took an important step in helping 23 ex-felons remove an anchor that prevented them from becoming productive, law-abiding citizens after they have paid their debt to society.

The mayor paid the fee of $450 per person to expunge the records of  nonviolent offenders. The money came from his Better Memphis Fund, a collection of private donations used to pay the costly fees.

Better Memphis Fund:$55,000 raised for criminal record expungement

As we have said before in this space, there is more to reducing crime than arresting, convicting and incarcerating criminals.

Another weapon in the crime-reduction arsenal involves providing ex-felons or misdemeanor offenders with support to help them re-engage with society in a productive manner.

When that happens, everybody benefits — from the ex-felons to society as a whole because the expungement increases the chances of ex-offenders finding gainful employment while decreasing the chances of them returning to criminal activity to make a living.

Criminal justice and penal officials talk a lot about the need to increase the number of programs or enhance those already in place to help ex-felons readjust to society.

Their concern is sincere, but high expungement fees can be a roadblock for people who cannot get jobs because of their criminal records or land good-paying jobs for the same reason.

Strickland should be applauded for recognizing the issue and doing something about it, along other organizations such as Just City, a Memphis-based criminal justice reform advocacy group.

From 2016: Just City exhausts expungement fund

State Rep. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, has filed a bill in the General Assembly this session to reduce the fee to $180 from $350, though the full price for expungement is $450. A state law regarding misdemeanors and class E felonies allows some nonviolent offenders to petition for expungement after they have completed the requirements of their sentence. A $350 expungement fee and $100 petition fee applies.

The bill, HB0418, is awaiting action in the House Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee. Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, is sponsor of a companion bill, SB1245, in the Senate. That bill passed on second consideration and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Akbari sponsored similar legislation in 2016, but it stalled in the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee over concerns that that it was expected to reduce government revenue by some $140,000.

This year, the bill is picking up bipartisan support, which may help it emerge from committees for an up-or-down votes by the full House and Senate.

We understand the concern about the loss of revenue. Another way of looking at it, however, is that reducing the fee will give more ex-felons a change to find jobs, generating more sales taxes and possibly more property taxes if the jobs pay enough for them to qualify for a mortgage.

If nothing else, it can help reduce the recidivism rate. It costs taxpayers $28,000 a year to house an inmate in a state prison.

The math alone justifies reducing the fee. Plus, it is the right thing to do. The ex-felons have paid their debt to society. Now it is up to the legislature to make it easier for them to put that debt behind them.