HB 2813 Arizona House · 57th Legislature - First Regular Session

erroneous convictions; compensation

HB 2813 creates a legal process for individuals wrongfully convicted of felonies in Arizona to seek financial compensation from the state. It applies to people who were pardoned based on innocence, had convictions reversed with charges dismissed, or entered a no-contest plea while maintaining innocence after conviction was overturned. Compensation equals twice the state's median household income per year incarcerated (adjusted for inflation), plus reimbursement for mental health treatment, education costs, and other related expenses. Claims must be filed within two years of conviction reversal or pardon, and the state bears the burden of proving innocence. The law also provides additional support services like up to 52 hours of mental health care and 120 education credits.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 11, 2025 Last action Mar 10, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → House Engrossed Version · 5 edits · Feb 26, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was reformatted from an introduced version to a House Engrossed version, adding several new substantive provisions that were not present in the original draft. Key additions include new services for claimants (mental health treatment, education credits, and financial planning), rules for handling duplicate monetary awards, and expanded expungement procedures. The compensation structure itself remains largely the same, but the bill now provides more comprehensive relief for wrongfully convicted individuals.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from purely monetary compensation to include non-monetary services and more detailed expungement procedures.

FISCAL

Added reimbursement for mental health treatment (up to 52 clinical hours at $250/hour), postsecondary education credits (up to 120 hours), and financial planning classes (up to 4 classes) for claimants.

REQUIREMENT

Added new subsections K through T detailing how to handle duplicate monetary awards, offset rules, payment procedures, and expanded expungement requirements including destruction of biological samples.

ENFORCEMENT

Added provisions requiring state agencies to seal expunged records, notify relevant parties, and treat claimants as if they were never arrested or convicted.

SCOPE

Added legislative findings explaining the unique harm caused to innocent people wrongly convicted and the need for expanded redress beyond existing tort remedies.

TECHNICAL

Changed formatting from introduced bill format to House Engrossed version format, including updated title references and page numbering.

Floor votes · House Feb 26, 2025

How they voted

59–0

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 60

Feb 26, 2025

D Democratic27

27 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican33

32 Yea 1

96% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

PASSED

lower

Feb 20, 2025

Lower · Passed

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors