Panel discusses ex-felon rights bill

CARSON CITY -- An Assembly panel was asked Tuesday to back a bill that would streamline the process for restoring civil rights to criminal offenders after they have paid their debts to society.

Currently, certain ex-offenders can have their civil rights restored after they apply to the state Pardons Board. But the board meets only twice a year and receives as many as 100 applications that are reviewed in a short period.

Senate Bill 238, by Sen. David Parks, D-Las Vegas, would allow civil rights to be restored to ex-felons more quickly provided there are no objections from a sentencing judge or the prosecutor in the case.

The bill, reviewed by the Assembly Corrections, Parole and Probation Committee, also would allow the board to review applications throughout the year and make decisions without meeting. Parks said he has been working to streamline the process for at least a decade.

"I think that it's a very confusing process, and it's a rather lengthy process," Parks said. "And if everyone has to go through that same lengthy process, then it takes a long time ... to do the updates and go through the reports."

Parks said the completed application to restore civil rights can be as much as 4 inches thick for one person. One goal of the bill is to change the application so that the documents will be less than an inch thick.

Lawmakers were told that most civil rights, such as voting and serving on a jury, are automatically restored. But ex-offenders have to apply for the right to have guns.

"The only thing that there would be a need for an expedited process would be those who were seeking to have their Second Amendment rights restored," said the committee chairman, Assemblyman William Horne, D-Las Vegas. "That gives me concern, because I think it should be a rare occasion that a convicted felon, particularly one who has violence in their history, has the opportunity to bear a firearm."