Amendment to Withheld Judgment Statute Proposed

The Attorney General has proposed legislation to make it clear that the dismissal of a charge pursuant to I.C. 19-2604 would not expunge the defendant's criminal record. Specifically, it adds a subsection 4 to the statute which would provide: "Any action taken by a court pursuant to this section shall not result in the expungement of the defendant's criminal record, as defined in section 67-3001(4), Idaho Code." House Bill 0071.
http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2009/H0071Bookmark.htm

The Bill's Statement of Purpose claims that the bill is intended to "clarify that Idaho Code 19-2604 is not an 'expungement' statute." The SOP further states that
"[n]otwithstanding the plain language of [the statute], the Idaho State Police have received orders purporting to expunge information, which is not authorized by statute." (This means you Brian Elkins.)

This, of course, is a separate issue from the question of what is the effect of a withheld judgment prior to discharge. That ball, as previously blogged, is still in our court. The state, however, seems satisfied with United States v. Sharp and now seeks to carve out even more from the statute's potential benefits.