Let’s set up a little scenario here.

Someone steals your identity and creates false identification using your information. This person then commits a crime, for which he is later arrested. He gives your name, SSN, address and other information to the police during the arrest.

The criminal then bonds out, but is due to appear in court on a certain date. Naturally, he never shows up. The police mount a search, which leads them directly to your front door.

A complete mess ensues.

At some point, however, probably after a massive amount of humiliation and stress (and possible physical injury, depending on what the police think you’re capable of), the “system” figures out that the person they were really looking for was also an identity thief, and that you yourself aren’t guilty of anything.

So your arrest record is expunged and you go on with your life, right?

Not in Indiana, apparently.

As it turns out, Indiana has “does not have [a] specific law” regarding the expungement and correction of arrest records for victims of criminal identity theft.

I’m not saying you won’t be able to get your records expunged, but I’ll bet it takes years upon years of sustained effort, red tape and extreme hassle. You’ll basically encounter a wall of, “We don’t have to, so we don’t want to.”

I guess we’re not alone—a lot of states fall under the “no specific law” category at this time.

But you know something? I’ve never been one to buy into the herd mentality, either with regards to action or inaction. In other words, just because not that many other states are doing it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t.

Not many people are running truly non-profit websites about fraud and identity theft prevention, either. Doesn’t stop me, though, does it?