State Representative La Shawn K. Ford, D-Chicago, has introduced legislation and calls for the state of Illinois to make it possible to have certain sealed criminal records expunged. HB 3849 was heard in Judiciary -Criminal Committee on Tuesday in Springfield. “People that can prove that they have turned their lives away from a life of crime and have proven that they are now reformed citizens deserve to have a pathway to a clean and fresh start in life,” said Ford. HB 3849 provides that a person who has had their record sealed is eligible to petition the Prisoner Review Board and then the Circuit Court to expunge qualifying records that have been sealed three years after the petitioner is granted sealing if the petitioner has not been arrested or has not had one or more criminal convictions between the court granting sealing and the filing of the petition for relief.