Sealing Juvenile Records in California

In the case we wrote about last week, a California court held that it wasn’t cruel and unusual punishment to require a minor to register as a sex offender for life.

The court noted, however, that a kid could be relieved of this requirement if he got his juvenile records sealed.

So how do you get your juvenile records sealed? Here are the basics in California.

If you are put on some form of probation or supervision, and you complete it satisfactorily, your records should be sealed automatically. That’s new under a law that went into effect in 2015. You can find more information about it here.

Otherwise, you have to petition the court to seal your records. To do that, you must be at least 18 years old or it must be at least five years since the end of your juvenile case. You can’t have a civil lawsuit pending against you because of the case, and you can’t have any adult criminal convictions except for certain misdemeanors. You must apply through the court’s probation department, and you can check this website to see whom to contact in your county. The court may hold a hearing, and it will grant your petition if it finds that you’ve been rehabilitated. That can happen even if you still owe fines, fees, or restitution. If the court denies your petition, you can try again later.

Generally, you’re not eligible at all if you committed an especially serious or violent offense when you were at least 14 years old. You can read more about that here and here.

But you may have a shot if you can persuade the court to dismiss your case based on a special motion that looks at your rehabilitation, your well-being, and the interests of justice. You may bring this motion no matter how long it’s been since your juvenile case ended, so talk to your lawyer. If you win the dismissal then you can petition to seal your records.

Once the court seals your records, your case no longer exists as a public record, and the proceedings are deemed never to have occurred. That means you can legally and truthfully say that you don’t have a juvenile record. Generally, the underlying records aren’t destroyed until you turn 38 years old, and they won’t ever be destroyed in the serious or violent cases. But they may be looked at only in limited situations, such as if you apply to work in the military, law enforcement, or the federal government.