A new proposal at the state legislature would dramatically decrease the fee being charged to those trying to expunge their record of a misdemeanor or a felony.
Representative Raumesh Akbari is pushing forward with a bill which would change the fee associate to expunge a record from $450 down to $180. Akbari says the move would help lower recidivism rates by giving non-violent offenders a second chance at finding work after they get out of jail.
"It’s a huge hurdle, for some people $450 might as well be $1 million," the Democrat from Memphis said.
If passed the state would lose about $140K in revenue but the bill does have bipartisan support. Last year 906 people had their records expunged in Tennessee.
