Expungement – Executive Branch Records 

Posted: 1:00 am Mon, March 15, 2010
By admin

Where petitioner was charged with misdemeanor domestic assault and pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct; and one year later, petitioner sought to expunge the domestic assault charge from her BCA record, stating that she had been refused two jobs because of the domestic-assault charge on her record; we conclude that the District Court properly determined that it did not have authority to alter petitioner’s record under Minn. Stat. sec. 609A.02 because all proceedings were not resolved in petitioner’s favor, and the court did not abuse its discretion by declining to exercise its inherent power because the Minnesota Supreme Court has determined that the employment concerns raised by petitioner are not integral to the judiciary’s authority.

Affirmed.

Concurring specially, Shumaker, J. “I write separately to emphasize the need to address a potentially significant injustice relating to the expungement of criminal records. . . . [T]he legislature should broaden the reach of the court’s inherent authority to expunge executive branch records. . . . The fact is that some people do work diligently and honestly to put their past behind them and to become law-abiding, productive citizens. We ought to encourage and applaud, rather than forever stigmatize, such people.”