What is the Second Chance Act?
The North Carolina Second Chance Act (Senate Bill 562) is legislation that would automate the expunction of certain dismissed criminal charges and allow individuals to petition the court for expungement of any nonviolent misdemeanor convictions if they have remained crime free for seven years.
The Second Chance Act passed the North Carolina Senate unanimously in May 2019 and is up for a vote in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
Second Chance Polling
To get a better idea of how much the public supports this issue, we had Public Opinion Strategies conduct a statewide survey of 800 registered voters in North Carolina, January 4‐7, 2020 (+ 3.5%). Fully 50% of respondents were contacted via cell phone and the other 50% were contacted via landline. Here are the results:
Key Takeaways:
- Voters strongly support the policies contained in the Second Chance Act to expand opportunities for eligible people to clear their criminal record.
- North Carolina legislators can cast their vote in support of Clean Slate legislation without fear of political fallout back home.
For official memo see: NC Poll Memo
