Removing criminal convictions and arrests from court and KBI records improves work, educational, and housing options..
Once a conviction happens, that coviction remains on the records of the District Court that heard the case and may be found in the records of the Clerk of the District Court by a simple search. The conviction is reported to the Department of Corrections if it is a felony. The conviction may also be reported to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), depending upon the severity level of the crime. KBI maintains an active record of all convictions reported to them. Those criminal records, with a few exceptions, are available to the general public. For a fee, anyone may submit a request for a criminal record to the KBI. Such criminal records requests are sometimes used by landlords in making decisions to rent or by employers to hire. Other times, an application for employment or housing may ask the question of whether the applicant has a criminal conviction. If the applicant does not answer the question truthfully, the employer or landlord may use that failure to report accurately to terminate employment or refuse to rent.
If a criminal conviction is expunged, the applicant may, in most instances, state that he or she has never been convicted of the of any crimes that have been expunged. A criminal history report pulled by the general public will not include the expunged conviction.
Convictions that are expunged may be used for certain purposes allowed by law. For example, if there is a future conviction, the previous expunged conviction may be used in the sentencing process. If the applicant applies for certain jobs or licenses, the expunged conviction must be disclosed.
