Disadvantages Of Expungement

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Tennessee law allows eligible persons the ability to have criminal records expunged under certain conditions (Guide to Expungement in Tennessee, n.d.). These conditions include the following:
• Dismissal of charges
• Returned as “no true bill” by a grand jury
• Arrest and release without having been charged
• Trail resulting in a not guilty verdict
• Case resulting in nolle prosequi
• Cases where an order of protection was successfully defended and denied by a court following a hearing (Guide to Expungement in Tennessee, n.d.).
Furthermore, expungements only pertain to court records and do not include arrest histories, investigative reports, law enforcement intelligence information, or files that have been maintained by the district attorneys
…show more content…
Change of law allows nonviolent offenders who have completed all requirements of their sentence and those who have no violence convictions, to petition the court for expungement (Types of Expungements | Shelby County, TN - Official Website, n.d.). Also, in cases where the defendant has a successful completion of judicial diversion, not including sexual offenses or violence sexual offenses, the defendant can apply for expunction (Types of Expungements | Shelby County, TN - Official Website, n.d.). Expungement with the State of Tennessee does not always allow for the records to be completely destroyed or erased, as they can be utilized in the determination of future criminal sentencing (Types of Expungements | Shelby County, TN - Official Website, …show more content…
Some disclosure is allowed depending on the age of the juvenile and the severity of the crime (Juvenile Records, 2011). Permitted access in granting in cases where a juvenile is 14 years old or older and is charged with a serious crime (Juvenile Records, 2011). Criminal court access can only be done by a judge, and probation officer as the juvenile records are maintained within a central repository (Miller & McEwen, 1996). Moreover, the court and prosecutors have access to a subset of juvenile court records of serious juvenile offenders that can be utilized in adult court cases for sentencing and that are otherwise exempt from laws establishing confidentiality (Miller & McEwen,

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