Pennsylvania’s New Second Chance Law

On February 16, 2016 Senate Bill 166, also known as the Second Chance bill, was signed into law. This new law chances existing law about how certain criminal history information can be used, and more importantly, seals certain criminal history information from public disclosure. Non-violent 2nd degree and 3rd degree misdemeanor records can be sealed from public view, but remain available to criminal justice agencies. A person wishing to have their record sealed must petition the court after being free from arrest for a ten year period following their last imprisonment or supervision. Pennsylvania law already provided that prospective employers were not to take criminal convictions into account when considering whether to hire an employee or not. Most people’s experiences show that simply wasn’t happening. Now conviction information from 10 years ago or more will not be available to prospective employers at all.

The attorneys at Trinity Law stand ready to represent you in petitioning to have your non-violent criminal conviction record sealed.  For more information, call us at 1-866-464-5297.