§ 12-1-12 - Destruction or sealing of records of persons acquitted or otherwise exonerated.
SECTION 12-1-12
§ 12-1-12 Destruction or sealing ofrecords of persons acquitted or otherwise exonerated. – (a) Any fingerprint, photograph, physical measurements, or other record ofidentification, heretofore or hereafter taken by or under the direction of theattorney general, the superintendent of state police, the member or members ofthe police department of any city or town or any other officer authorized bythis chapter to take them, of a person under arrest, prior to the finalconviction of the person for the offense then charged, shall be destroyed byall offices or departments having the custody or possession within sixty (60)days after there has been an acquittal, dismissal, no true bill, noinformation, or the person has been otherwise exonerated from the offense withwhich he or she is charged, and the clerk of court where the exoneration hastaken place shall, consistent with § 12-1-12.1, place under seal allrecords of the person in the case including all records of the division ofcriminal identification established by § 12-1-4; provided, that the personshall not have been previously convicted of any felony offense. Any person whoshall violate any provision of this section shall be fined not exceeding onehundred dollars ($100).
(b) requirements of this section shall also apply to personsdetained by police, but not arrested or charged with an offense, or to personsagainst whom charges have been filed by the court, and the period of suchfiling has expired.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, anyperson who has been charged with a complaint for a crime involving domesticviolence where the complaint was filed upon a plea of not guilty, guilty ornolo contendere pursuant to § 12-10-12, must wait a period of three (3)years from the date of filing before the records associated with the charge canbe expunged, sealed or otherwise destroyed.