Esta ley enmienda varias leyes existentes (Ley Núm. 254 de 27 de julio de 1974 y Ley Núm. 129 de 30 de junio de 1977) y deroga otra (Ley Núm. 108 de 21 de junio de 1968) para ajustar sus disposiciones al nuevo Código Penal de Puerto Rico. Se enfoca en la regulación de los certificados de antecedentes penales, estableciendo procedimientos para la eliminación de convicciones por delitos menos graves y graves del récord penal, con el objetivo de facilitar la rehabilitación y reinserción social de los convictos. También ajusta la Ley del Sistema de Información de Justicia Criminal para asegurar la seguridad, precisión y protección de la privacidad de la información, eliminando datos de convicciones que han sido ordenadas eliminar.
(Approved September 15, 2004)
To amend the Title, add new Sections 3, 4 and 5 and amend Section 3 and renumber it as Section 6, and renumber Section 4, 5, 6 and 7 as Sections 7, 8, 9 and 10, respectively of Act No. 254 of July 27, 1974, as amended, that confers upon the Superintendent of Police the power to issue criminal record certificates; amend subsection
(m) of Section 4, Section 8 and Section 20 of Act No. 129 of June 30, 1977, known as the Criminal Justice Information System Act; and to repeal Act No. 108 of June 21, 1968, as amended, so as to adjust its provisions to the new Penal Code of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
The present is one of several amendments to the laws that are affected with the approval of the new Penal Code of the Commonwealth of Puerto, which in turn repeals the Code now in effect approved through Act No. 115 of July 22, 1974.
It becomes imperative to adjust the body of laws as a whole so as to give it uniformity when the new Penal Code is introduced.
The public policy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico set forth in Section 19 of Article VI of our Constitution calls for regulating the correctional institutions so they may serve their purpose effectively and lead, within the available resources, to the proper treatment of the members of the
correctional population to make possible their moral and social rehabilitation. In this respect, the revision of the Penal Code has taken into consideration the fact that our correctional system has been undergoing a serious crisis for many years.
The failure of the system is reflected by the marked tendency of the correctional population towards recidivism in the commission of crimes after reentering the community. This weakness of the correctional system is attributed to the lack of support given inmates so they can effectively rejoin the community by doing lawful work, be through employment or selfmanagement.
On the same basis, for years Puerto Rican legislators have revised the legal provisions related to the criminal record certificates. On the one hand, the information that may appear on those documents has been very precise so as to avoid unjustly damaging the reputation of the person in question or reducing his/her possibilities for devoting him/herself to legitimate and productive activities. On the other hand, the amendments introduced to this legislation have broadened the scope of the procedure for eliminating criminal antecedents in meritorious cases, both as regards to felonies and misdemeanors.
At present, the law allows for the elimination of convictions for misdemeanors from the criminal record after three (3) years from the last conviction for a misdemeanor and ten (10) years from the last conviction for a felony, save for the exceptions provided by law. Act No. 174 of August 16, 2002, introduced a new concept to permit an inmate to obtain a letter of reference from the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in meritorious cases. This option allows for the elimination,
through a Court proceeding, of certain felonies and misdemeanors in a term shorter than the terms provided by law.
In consonance with this public policy, the new Penal Code contains new provisions that foster the rehabilitation of convicts, such as the definition of restitution for damages contained in its Section 98, the penalty of therapeutic restriction for convicts who face conditions of addiction and Section 104, which sets forth a procedure for certifying the rehabilitation of the condemned.
On the basis of empirical data, the new Penal Code fixes the maximum period to be able to claim recidivism in five (5) years when processing a crime committed by a person who has been previously convicted. The fixing of this five (5)-year term is sustained by the results obtained from studies that corroborate that the person who tends to relapse into criminal conduct commits the new crime within the specified term.
On the basis of the changes proposed in the new Penal Code, this Act intends to revise the legislation related to the criminal record certificate in Acts No. 108 of June 21, 1968, as amended, and No. 254 of July 27, 1974, as amended, to consolidate their provisions in a single statute and to adjust the same to the Penal Reform. The laws which regulate the convictions for sexual crimes and crimes of corruption remain unaltered, together with the Conviction Registers established in Act No. 28 of July 1, 1997 and No. 119 of September 7, 1997, since they provide special procedures for the elimination of these particular convictions.
Act No. 129 of June 30, 1977, known as the Criminal Justice Information System Act, is also adjusted to the provisions herein provided.
Section 1.-The Title of Act No. 254 of July 27, 1974, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:
To entrust the Puerto Rico Police with the task of issuing Criminal Record Certificates, provide for their regulation and establish the procedure to eliminate certain convictions from the penal record."
Section 2.-New Sections 3, 4 and 5 are hereby added and Sections 3, 4 and 5 and 6 renumbered of Act No. 254 of July 27, 1974, as amended, to read as follows: "Section 3.-Any person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor may solicit that the Police Superintendent eliminate the conviction from the Criminal Record Certificate through a sworn statement, accompanied by the pertinent documents and a twenty (20) dollar Internal Revenue stamp, provided the following circumstances concur: a. that six (6) months have passed from the moment the sentence was served and that during that time the person has not committed another crime; and b. that the person has a good reputation within the community.
Section 4.-Any person convicted of a felony who is not subject to the Register of Persons Convicted for Violent Sexual Crimes and Abuse of Minors nor to the Register of Persons Convicted for Corruption, may solicit that the Court of First Instance issue an order for the elimination of the conviction from the Criminal Record Certificate provided the following circumstances concur:
a. that five (5) years have passed from the moment the sentence was served and that during that time the person has not committed any crime; b. that the person has a good reputation within the community; and c. that the person has been subjected to providing the sample required by the DNA Data Bank Act, if required to do so.
The petitioner shall provide the documents needed to eviaence the allegations of his/her petition. The Department of Justice may oppose or yield to the petition, in which case it shall not be necessary to hold a hearing.
Section 5.-The decision of the Superintendent may be revised by the Court of Appeals according to the provisions of Act No. 170 of August 12, 1988, as amended, known as the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, and subsection
(c) of Section 4.006 of the Judicature Act of 2003.
The decision of the Court of First Instance may be appealed before the Court of Appeals and the sentence may be revised by certiorari before the Supreme Court."
Section 3.-Section 3 of Act No. 254 of July 27, 1974, as amended, is hereby renumbered and amended to read as follows: "Section 6.-The Criminal Record Certificate shall not include the issue of any sentence: a. that has been revoked; b. that has been eliminated pursuant to the procedure provided in this Act; c. that has been given as served by a Court pursuant to Section 104 of the new Penal Code of the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico or Section 7 of the Constitutional Rehabilitation Mandate Act; d. that has been validated by the Central Office of Labor Advisement and Human Resources Administration (OCALARH, Spanish acronym); or e. that has been eliminated from the Register of Persons Convicted for Violent Sexual Crimes and Abuse of Minors."
Section 4.-Section 4 of Act No. 254 of July 27, 1974, as amended, is hereby renumbered to read as follows: "Section 7.-When there is no open record for a specific person in the files of the Puerto Rico Police a negative report shall be issued for that person."
Section 5.-Section 5 of Act No. 254 of July 27, 1974, as amended, is hereby renumbered to read as follows: "Section 8.-Any person may solicit the Criminal Record Certificate of a specific person provided he/she pays the corresponding fee as established by law."
Section 6.-Section 6 of Act No. 254 of July 27, 1974, as amended, is hereby renumbered to read as follows: "Section 9.-The Police Superintendent is hereby authorized to employ the personnel, acquire the equipment and materials and prepare the printed forms needed to comply with the provisions of this Act and promulgate regulations to those ends."
Section 7.-Section 7 of Act No. 254 of July 27, 1974, as amended, is hereby renumbered as Section 10, to read as follows:
"Section 10.-" Section 8.-Subsection
(m) of Section 4 of Act No. 129 of June 30, 1977, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 4.-Functions and Duties of the Executive Board.- The Executive Board shall have the following functions and duties:
(a) Hold the necessary meetings to achieve the purposes of this Act. The Secretary of Justice shall be duty bound to call said meetings.
(b) $\ldots$
(m) Issue a certificate through the Criminal Identification Divisions of the Puerto Rico Police, which shall contain data on guilty verdicts filed with the record of every person who after having been sentenced in any Court of Justice of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, has a record in the Criminal Justice Information System.
Any individual, after verification of his/her identity, or his/her designated attorney, may require and obtain his/her own criminal record certificate. Likewise, any party in a civil or criminal case or quasi judicial proceeding may require and obtain the criminal record certificate of any party or witness in the case in question. The certificate thus issued shall be subject to the provisions of Act No. 254 of July 27, 1974, as amended."
Section 9.-Section 8 of Act No. 129 of June 30, 1977, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 8.-Executive Board - Security and accuracy of the information; protection of individual privacy.
The Executive Board shall take all the necessary measures not being limited to the promulgation of rules and regulations to ensure to the maximum possible the security and accuracy of all information that may be collected through the System and for the individual protection of the rights to privacy according to the constitutional principles of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Executive Board shall take all the necessary measures to ensure that the Criminal Justice Information System shall not include any data whatsoever relative to the political affiliation or activities or any person whatsoever. Likewise, it shall take all the necessary measures to ensure that any data relative to convictions whose elimination from the penal record of a person has been ordered by a competent Court be effectively and totally eliminated from the Criminal Justice Information System, including but not to be construed as a limitation, the memory of any computer used by the System.
There shall also be eliminated from the System all matters relative to convictions validated by the Central Office of Labor Advisement and Human Resources Administration and those that have been eliminated from the Register of Persons Convicted for Violent Sexual Crimes and Abuse of Minors."
Section 10.-Section 20 of Act No. 129 of June 30, 1977, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "Penalties.- Any public officer or employee who by voluntary omission or negligence fails to fulfill some duty imposed by this Act or by any regulation approved thereby shall incur a misdemeanor."
Section 11.-Repeal. Act No. 108 of June 21, 1968, as amended, is hereby repealed.
Section 12.-Effectiveness. This Act shall take effect when the Penal Code of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico becomes effective.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 314 (S.B. 2701) of the $7^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend the Title, add new Sections 3, 4 and 5 and amend Section 3 and renumber it as Section 6, and renumber Section 4, 5, 6 and 7 as Sections 7, 8, 9 and 10, respectively of Act No. 254 of July 27, 1974, as amended, that confers upon the Superintendent of Police the power to issue criminal record certificates; amend subsection
(m) of Section 4, Section 8 and Section 20 of Act No. 129 of June 30, 1977, known as the Criminal Justice Information System Act; and to repeal Act No. 108 of June 21, 1968, as amended, so as to adjust its provisions to the new Penal Code of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today 6th of December of 2005.
Francisco J. Domenech Director