In early October, the Pennsylvania Bar Association and 29 county bar associations are launching a statewide educational campaign, Understanding Expungement and Limited Access to Criminal Records, which focuses on Pennsylvania’s crimes code and a law that goes into effect Nov. 1 offering a new option to address criminal history record information.

“Pennsylvania is joining a number of other states to expand expungement laws and limit access to some information about criminal histories with the primary goal of removing barriers to employment, housing and education for individuals who have completed their sentences,” said PBA President Sara A. Austin.

“The new Pennsylvania law will allow individuals to petition the court for an order of limited access to information about certain second- and third degree misdemeanors provided those individuals have completed all sentencing requirements and have no arrests or convictions thereafter for at least 10 years,” said Austin. “Although the general public will no longer have access to some information, the criminal histories would still be available upon request to law enforcement and state licensing agencies.”

The public education campaign is funded by the PBA and a grant from the Pennsylvania Bar Insurance and Trust Fund. It is the 13th in a series of statewide public education efforts conducted under the direction of the PBA Community and Public Relations Committee. Previous campaigns have addressed such issues as reporting child abuse, education rights of exceptional children, child support, wills and estates, identity theft and credit issues.

The public education campaign will be formally announced during a news conference planned for Oct. 4.

Austin said that the PBA and participating county bar associations will be distributing brochures titled “Understanding Expungement and Limited Access to Criminal Records.”

Through an agreement with the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, print ads will be placed in at least one local newspaper of each participating county bar association. In addition, through an agreement with the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters, 30-second television spots will air throughout the state during the first two weeks of October.

The advertising will inform interested Pennsylvanians to go to the PBA website to download a copy of the brochure and also will provide a phone number to call to request the mailing of a printed copy.

The PBA Corrections System Committee is assisting in the development of the campaign materials. The committee and the PBA Criminal Justice Section are planning to provide speakers for the Oct. 4 news conference.

County bar associations participating in the campaign include Adams County Bar Association, Beaver County Bar Association, Berks County Bar Association, Blair County Bar Association, Butler County Bar Association, Carbon County Bar Association, Chester County Bar Association, Columbia/Montour Bar Association, Cumberland County Bar Association, Dauphin County Bar Association, Delaware County Bar Association, Erie County Bar Association, Fayette County Bar Association, Franklin County Bar Association, Huntingdon County Bar Association, Lackawanna Bar Association, Lancaster Bar Association, Lawrence County Bar Association, Lebanon County Bar Association, Bar Association of Lehigh County, Lycoming Law Association, Monroe County Bar Association, Montgomery Bar Association, Northampton County Bar Association, Philadelphia Bar Association, Washington County Bar Association, Westmoreland Bar Association, Wilkes-Barre Law and Library Association and York County Bar Association