SPRINGFIELD- The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission found that between 2004 and 2014, only 0.26 percent of juvenile arrests in Illinois were expunged, and 87 percent of counties granted an average of less than one juvenile expungement per year.

State Senator Michael E. Hastings (D-Tinley Park) advanced Senate Bill 2021 to change that.

“Children make mistakes,” Hastings said. “We need to be working toward rehabilitating children caught in our court system to give them a chance to succeed, not crippling them with the mistakes of their past.”

Senate Bill 2021 does three things.

Senate BIll 2021 eliminates occasions when juvenile records for nonviolent crimes may be shared.

And creates penalties for the improper disclosure of juvenile records.

These two steps will protect privacy and give younger nonviolent offenders a fair chance at reforming their lives and being successful in future endeavors.

And lastly, it expands the scope and eligibility requirements for expungement. Adolescents can be eligible for automatic expungement if there is not a discovery of delinquency on any offense two years after the case proceedings.

“We need to help our young people transition to be productive adults,” Hastings said. “Current policies concerning the arrest records of youth are not making our streets any safer and costing the state immeasurable costs.”

Senate Bill 2021 passed the Senate’s Committee on Criminal Law with bipartisan support and now moves to the full Senate for consideration.