                 TITLE 18--CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
 
                       PART II--CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
 
                CHAPTER 229--POSTSENTENCE ADMINISTRATION
 
                         SUBCHAPTER A--PROBATION
 
Sec. 3607. Special probation and expungement procedures for drug 
        possessors
        
    (a) Pre-judgment Probation.--If a person found guilty of an offense 
described in section 404 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 
844)--
        (1) has not, prior to the commission of such offense, been 
    convicted of violating a Federal or State law relating to controlled 
    substances; and
        (2) has not previously been the subject of a disposition under 
    this subsection;

the court may, with the consent of such person, place him on probation 
for a term of not more than one year without entering a judgment of 
conviction. At any time before the expiration of the term of probation, 
if the person has not violated a condition of his probation, the court 
may, without entering a judgment of conviction, dismiss the proceedings 
against the person and discharge him from probation. At the expiration 
of the term of probation, if the person has not violated a condition of 
his probation, the court shall, without entering a judgment of 
conviction, dismiss the proceedings against the person and discharge him 
from probation. If the person violates a condition of his probation, the 
court shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of section 3565.
    (b) Record of Disposition.--A nonpublic record of a disposition 
under subsection (a), or a conviction that is the subject of an 
expungement order under subsection (c), shall be retained by the 
Department of Justice solely for the purpose of use by the courts in 
determining in any subsequent proceeding whether a person qualifies for 
the disposition provided in subsection (a) or the expungement provided 
in subsection (c). A disposition under subsection (a), or a conviction 
that is the subject of an expungement order under subsection (c), shall 
not be considered a conviction for the purpose of a disqualification or 
a disability imposed by law upon conviction of a crime, or for any other 
purpose.
    (c) Expungement of Record of Disposition.--If the case against a 
person found guilty of an offense under section 404 of the Controlled 
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 844) is the subject of a disposition under 
subsection (a), and the person was less than twenty-one years old at the 
time of the offense, the court shall enter an expungement order upon the 
application of such person. The expungement order shall direct that 
there be expunged from all official records, except the nonpublic 
records referred to in subsection (b), all references to his arrest for 
the offense, the institution of criminal proceedings against him, and 
the results thereof. The effect of the order shall be to restore such 
person, in the contemplation of the law, to the status he occupied 
before such arrest or institution of criminal proceedings. A person 
concerning whom such an order has been entered shall not be held 
thereafter under any provision of law to be guilty of perjury, false 
swearing, or making a false statement by reason of his failure to recite 
or acknowledge such arrests or institution of criminal proceedings, or 
the results thereof, in response to an inquiry made of him for any 
purpose.

(Added Pub. L. 98-473, title II, Sec. 212(a)(2), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 
2003.)


                             Effective Date

    Section effective Nov. 1, 1987, and applicable only to offenses 
committed after the taking effect of this section, see section 235(a)(1) 
of Pub. L. 98-473, set out as a note under section 3551 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in title 21 section 841.
