WATCH: Clean Slate Act passes Illinois legislature despite opposition

By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The Illinois House has approved a Senate bill that modifies the Clean Slate Act to seal certain criminal convictions.

In the Senate Wednesday evening, state Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, said House Bill 1836 takes crimes that currently can be sealed by petition to allow them to be sealed automatically.

“This does not extend beyond crimes that are currently able to be sealed by petition,” Sims said. “So it allows for us to deal with the backlog of cases.”

State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, opposed the bill. He said he worries this doesn’t encourage convicted criminals to focus on rehabilitation.

“The only problem is that in statute, there are protections to make sure that before someone’s criminal record is sealed, they are rehabilitated,” McClure said. “And this bill also eliminates those protections.”

The measure was approved in the Senate.

Thursday afternoon in the House, state Rep. Jehan Gordon Booth, D-Peoria, said HB 1836 does three things.

“It pushes out the implementation date six months for the Illinois State Police. It pushes out the implementation date for the clerks by one year,” she said. “And it also removes human trafficking from the Illinois Clean Slate legislation, as we have passed before.”

State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, who voted against the bill, questioned why it removes a provision on subsequent convictions and other changes.

“We are also removing, this bill would remove the provision requiring a petitioner to attach a negative drug test to a petition for sealing,” Windhorst said.

The measure passed the House with bipartisan support and can now be sent to the governor. If approved by the governor, the measure is subject to appropriation.

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