Juvenile record sealing

Under the current law, all youth can have their juvenile court and probation records sealed, as well as law enforcement records and school records pertaining to the offense, regardless of the age of the youth and type of charges.  While many charges will result in almost automatic sealing, cases involving a some serious offenses usually require the youth to have satisfactorily completed the terms of their probation.  Record sealing is the equivalent of expungement for adults. 

For youth who have satisfactorily completed the DEJ program, or satisfactorily completed the terms of their probation when the sustained petition was for a non-707(b) offense, the probation officer will prepare the Welfare and Institutions Code § 786 sealing order for the court to sign; sealing usually occurs on the same date as the dismissal of the case in court.

For youth who were 14 years and older and have satisfactorily completed the terms of their probation when the sustained petition was for a 707(b) offense, the youth’s attorney will evaluate whether to petition the court to reduce the offense to a misdemeanor or seek to have the case dismissed under WIC 782, and then seal the records. The youth’s attorney would file a Motion to Seal under Welfare and Institutions Code § 781 or Welfare and Institutions Code § 786, depending on the court’s decision to reduce.  For youth who were under 14 years old and had a sustained petition for an offense listed in WIC 707(b) offense, the youth’s attorney should file a Motion to Seal under Welfare and Institutions Code § 786. 

For youth who have a petition filed, but the petition was dismissed without the youth ever being placed on formal probation, the youth’s attorney should prepare the Welfare and Institutions Code § 786 sealing order. 

For youth who have not had a petition filed or was supervised by probation’s Prevention and Early Intervention Unit (PEI), the Probation Department will prepare a sealing order but the order covers juvenile probation records only pursuant to WIC §786.5. If you receive a denial from the Probation Department of your request to seal your diversion records, please contact our office for assistance. As the law currently stands, Probation would only be able to seal the probation records and any service provider’s records. They are unable to seal any law enforcement records of your arrest or citation. We anticipate that there will be a legislative fix for this in the future but in the meantime, the only way to seal your arrest history for diversion programming is through a WIC §781 motion. 

If you are an adult and your juvenile record was not previously sealed, you can contact the Probation Department to see if they can prepare a sealing order for you. If your request is denied, you can contact the Public Defender’s Office for assistance.  It does not matter how old you are now, how much time has passed since your juvenile case was adjudicated, or whether you were represented by the Public Defender’s Office in the past. 

The County of Santa Clara Probation Department has more Information on record sealing.  Furthermore, the California Judicial Council has information on record sealing in English and Spanish. (forms JV-50- through JV-598)