Start date delayed for law that would seal certain criminal charges from public record

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- A law that would seal certain criminal convictions, making them not available to the public, is no longer going into effect this July, as previously planned.  

The bill was first passed in 2021 -- as Senate Bill 1339 and House Bill 2113 -- but lawmakers have decided to delay its start date. Records eligible to be sealed won't be until Jan. 1, 2026, rather than July 1.

The delay is supposed to give clerks across the state more time to put eligible charges that can be sealed into a new database.  

If approved by Governor Glenn Youngkin, think of the record that is sealed as essentially becoming invisible. 

Not everyone will be eligible to have charges sealed. For a felony to be sealed, you cannot have any new criminal conviction within 10 years of being charged. For misdemeanors, it’s seven years.  

And not all charges are eligible either. For example, driving under the influence (DUI), domestic violence and other violent charges do not qualify to be sealed.  

8News spoke with George Townsend, the founder of the private law firm Clean Slate Virginia, the only law firm in the state focused exclusively on sealing criminal records.  

“Before these laws, a criminal conviction would stay on your record for the rest of your life," Townsend said. "And I’ve seen how that has affected people economically, and it’s soul crushing.

He said this delay impacts employment across the state.  

"I’ve talked with hundreds, hundreds, of Virginians already, and all they want is a better job. Or a job," he said.  

Townsend told me opposition to this law came from lawmakers who think no matter what, employers and landlords should have access to someone's criminal record. But Townsend argued the qualifications to have a charge sealed are strict enough to serve the people who made a mistake years ago.

Some charges will be automatically sealed once this law goes into effect, including trespassing, disorderly conduct and possession of marijuana. Other charges will have to go through a petition process.  

Townsend said around $13 million in taxpayer money has already gone toward trying to get this law into effect.  It's a tedious process that includes turning a massive amount of paper documents into electronic documents.  

But, he said people have already waited over four years for the chance to seal their criminal records, and this most recent delay is just another hurdle.  

“I know there are thousands of people already counting on this going into effect July 1st of this year," he said. “It’s gonna be a hard conversation calling my clients and saying, ‘We thought this was coming July 1 of this year and now we’re gonna have to wait until next year.’ People are making plans on that. Their employment plans. So, it’s gonna be a tough pill to swallow but, you know, we’ll have to wait another year if we have to.”