Restoring your client’s civil rights. This might be one of the most helpful things that you may assist your client with. Sharon Neill of the Maricopa County Superior Court took some time to sit down with me and explain the process that ex-offenders must go through in order to have their rights restored. But before we begin, it’s important to define what exactly is meant by the term “Restoration of Rights.” Many people are the under the false presumption that restoring your rights results in the expungment of your crimes, or otherwise wipes your slate clean of any criminal history. That is not the case. When you are convicted of a felony, you immediately lose your “civil rights.” These rights include the right to vote, the right to sit on a jury, to sit on a board such as your child’s Parent Teacher Association or any other non-profit Board of Directors. In the State of Arizona, you also lose the right hold a real estate license, a commercial driver’s license (CDL), acquire a business license, or work as a licensed barber or cosmetologist.  You also lose the right to possess a firearm, Though the process to apply for the reinstatement of that privilege is separate, and since it has little bearing on a client’s ability to get a job (military, security or law enforcement jobs aside) that process will not be covered here. In addition to having your civil rights restored, you may also suggest to your clients that they seek to “vacate judgment of guilt and dismiss charges”

 

Time line:

If your client did not serve any prison time, and was convicted of a felony charge and given probation as a sentence, your client is eligible to apply to have their rights restored immediately after they complete probation. If they have never been convicted of a felony prior to that offense, their rights should automatically be reinstated.  This does not always happen, and it might be advisable for your client to apply anyway to ensure that his or her rights are in fact restored. You can also advise your client to begin applying to have their judgment set aside or vacated. They can begin this process at anytime following the successful completion of probation, but based on anecdotal evidence, Sharon Neill advises that applying any earlier than a year is a wasted effort. She recommends applying to set aside judgment two years from the end of probation to maximize the client’s chances for success. Depending on severity of the crime. If the client’s crimes were relatively minor on the spectrum of charges, they might be successful after waiting only a year.

 

If your client DID serve time in prison:

They may apply to have their civil rights restored immediately after they satisfy the terms of their probation. However, it is mandated by state law in Arizona that they may not apply to have their judgment vacated or set aside until two years has elapsed since the time they completed probation – NOT the date they were released from prison. So, if your client served two years in prison, and then was released under community supervision (probation) for another three years, they will have to wait five full year between the time they were released from prison until the time that they may apply to have their sentence vacated.  There is no wiggle room on the two years between completing the terms of probation and applying. However, your client may begin the process of having his or her civil rights restored immediately after completing the terms of probation.

 

The Class 6 “Undesignated” or “Open” felony.

In Arizona, Felonies are ranked in descending order based upon the severity of the crime. Thus, the most severe and brutal crimes such as capitol offenses and murder are categorized as Class 1 felonies. The lowest category of felonies is Class 6. It is a common complaint among clients that they have been convicted of a Class 6 Felony that was “open” or “undesignated” and that the Prosecutor promised that it would be reduced to a misdemeanor immediately following their successful completion of probation. While this should be an automatic process, it often times is not, and your client may very well be failing background checks because this change ins status has not been properly reported. This failure to report the change can effect everything from your client’s ability to find housing, to his ability to work.

 

How to apply to have your client’s class 6 felony designated as misdemeanor:

1.)    Make sure that the felony is indeed eligible to be downgraded to a misdemeanor. If the charge occurred after 2000, you may go to www.XLDFLFJDL.com and pull up the minute entries for your client’s case. Look for a plea agreement. The felony’s classification will be listed there. “Undesignated” and “Open” are synonymous terms.

2.)    Pickup an application from the Customer Service Center located at 601 West Jackson, Phoenix, AZ. They are open from 8:00am to 5:00pm. The phone number is 602-506-3360.

3.)    The form is very simple to fill-out and is two pages. Be sure to make a copy for your client’s personal records. Then submit the original and one additional copy to the Clerk of the Court. As well as a copy to the Deputy County Attorney, Attn: Restoration of Civil Rights 301 West Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ.

4.)    As with any other bureaucratic process, the time period can last anywhere from weeks to months. In the meantime, you should advise your client to photocopy their “Absolute Discharge” paperwork (1 page). On it, it should note that the charge was lowered from a felony to a misdemeanor. (If you need to get a copy of your absolute discharge, go down to 1601 West Jefferson and they’ll mail you a copy.) Make multiple copies and attach it to any job applications that you fill-out. It will serve as proof that your felony was reduced, even if the major databases haven’t been updated with the changes.

5.)    Also, according to Sharon Neill, “It appears that [Arizona] does not forward the information regarding a person’s Class 6 designation from a felony to a misdemeanor to anyone. This means that when background checks are done, the charges will still show as felonies.” In order to remedy this, Mrs. Neill recommends making photocopies of the misdemeanor designation form and sending them to the following three agencies, along with a polite note explaining your intent to have their records reflect the changes regarding your criminal history. (For copies of all these forms, see the appendix. Note though, that the forms may have been updated since this book was printed, so they should only be used as a reference)

 

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

100 West Washington, Ste 1900

Phoenix, AZ 85003

 

Arizona Department of Public Safety

PO Box 6638
Phoenix, AZ 85005-6638

 

Federal Bureau of Investigation

935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20535

 

Assisting a client with a Juvenile Record

If your client was convicted of a crime as a juvenile, they may ask the court to destroy those records on their 18^th birthday.  This is important because if an employer does a criminal background check, the client’s juvenile criminal history will appear. The exact charges will not. By assisting your client with the destruction of their juvenile criminal history, you are ensuring that the mistakes they made as a minor do not hinder their ability to find work opportunities as an adult. It’s important that the individual act on this soon though. In the event that they are convicted of a crime as an adult, they automatically forfeit the right to have their juvenile records destroyed. Additionally, if a juvenile is charged as an adult for a crime, they must wait until they are 25 year old to ask the courts to destroy their records.