HR 3111119th CongressIn Committee

Fresh Start Act of 2025

Introduced: Apr 30, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Fresh Start Act of 2025 would amend the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to create a federal grants program for states to modernize their criminal justice data systems in order to enable automatic expungement or sealing of certain criminal records. It defines a “covered expungement law” as one that provides for automatic expungement or sealing of records (without action by the individual) with limited State-imposed requirements (e.g., continued access to expunged material for courts and law enforcement) and ensures that such expungement cannot be delayed due to unpaid fees or fines. States receiving grants would must annually report demographic and case data to the Attorney General, and the Attorney General would publish a public annual report summarizing this data. The overarching purpose is to streamline automatic record clearing to improve eligibility for employment, housing, and other opportunities, while increasing transparency about who benefits from expungement.

Key Points

1Establishes a grants program for States to modernize criminal justice data infrastructure to support automatic expungement and sealing of records under “covered expungement laws.”
2Creates a formal definition of “covered expungement law” as automatic expungement or sealing of criminal records, without delay caused by fees or fines, while allowing state-imposed safeguards (e.g., continued access to the records by courts and law enforcement).
3Requires States that receive grants to annually report to the Attorney General on demographics (race, ethnicity, gender) and counts related to automatic expungement/sealing, ongoing applications, and those pending.
4Requires the Attorney General to publish a public annual report detailing the data reported by States, enhancing transparency about expungement activity.
5Clarifies that the expungement process under covered laws is automatic (i.e., does not require action by the individual or state beyond establishing the framework) and aims to reduce barriers created by fees or fines.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Individuals with qualifying offenses who would be eligible for automatic expungement or sealing under covered expungement laws, potentially improving access to employment, housing, and broader opportunities.Secondary group/area affected: States and their criminal justice data infrastructure, which would receive federal grants and must implement automated record-clearing processes and reporting systems.Additional impacts: Law enforcement and courts would retain access to expunged/sealed records as needed for ongoing operations; the public would gain access to annual summary reports on expungement activity, and there could be increased scrutiny of racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in expungement outcomes. There may also be privacy and data-management considerations related to collecting and publishing demographic data.

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