Judiciary & Public Safety Public Hearing

Council of the District of Columbia COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY & PUBLIC SAFETY NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004 COUNCILMEMBER CHARLES ALLEN, CHAIRPERSON COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY & PUBLIC SAFETY ANNOUNCES A PUBLIC HEARING ON B24-0063, THE “SECOND CHANCE AMENDMENT ACT OF 2021” AND B24-0110, THE “CRIMINAL RECORD EXPUNGEMENT AMENDMENT ACT OF 2021” Thursday, April 8, 2021, 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Virtual Hearing via Zoom To Watch Live: https://dccouncil.us/council-videos/ http://video.oct.dc.gov/DCC/jw.html https://www.facebook.com/CMcharlesallen/ On Thursday, April 8, 2021, Councilmember Charles Allen, Chairperson of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, will convene a public hearing to consider Bill 24-0063, the “Second Chance Amendment Act of 2021”, and Bill 24-0110, the “Criminal Record Expungement Amendment Act of 2021.” The hearing will be conducted virtually via Zoom from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The stated purpose of B24-0063, the “Second Chance Amendment Act of 2021”, is to amend Chapter 8 of Title 16 to increase the number of eligible convictions that may be sealed, to reduce the number of years a resident must remain off papered to seal an eligible conviction, to simplify and shorten the process that a resident must undertake to seal a charge that does not end in a conviction, and to have a group of independent legal experts look at ineligible misdemeanors and felonies and issue a report with recommendations for eligibility. The stated purpose of B24-0110, the “Criminal Record Expungement Amendment Act of 2021”, is to amend section 16-801 of the District of Columbia Official Code to expand the definition of an eligible felony and to make all misdemeanors eligible for sealing. 1 The Committee invites the public to provide oral and/or written testimony. Public witnesses seeking to provide oral testimony at the Committee’s hearing must thoroughly review the following instructions: • Anyone wishing to provide oral testimony must email the Committee at judiciary@dccouncil.us with their name, telephone number, organizational affiliation, and title (if any), by the close of business on Friday, April 2, 2021. • The Committee will approve witnesses’ registrations based on the total time allotted for public testimony. The Committee will also determine the order of witnesses’ testimony. • Representatives of organizations will be allowed a maximum of five minutes for oral testimony, and individuals (and any subsequent representatives of the same organizations) will be allowed a maximum of three minutes. • Witnesses are not permitted to yield their time to, or substitute their testimony for, the testimony of another individual or organization. • If possible, witnesses should submit a copy of their testimony electronically in advance to judiciary@dccouncil.us. • Witnesses who anticipate needing language interpretation are requested to inform the Committee as soon as possible, but no later than five business days before the hearing. The Committee will make every effort to fulfill timely requests; however, requests received fewer than five business days before the hearing may not be fulfilled. For witnesses who are unable to testify at the hearing, written statements will be made part of the official record. Copies of written statements should be emailed to the Committee at judiciary@dccouncil.us no later than the close of business on Friday, April 16, 2021. 2