Sealing Juvenile Criminal Record

If you or your child have a juvenile criminal record, whether you appeared before the Court or you just had contact with law enforcement, you have the right to seal your juvenile record.  However, there are some mandatory requirements that must be met before petitioning the Court to seal the juvenile record. 

Sealing your juvenile records means that the Court will order all those departments that interacted with you destroy their records of that contact.  If anyone wants to see your juvenile record, they must petition the Court to expunge your record. 

Requirements:

•  Must be 18 years of age or older, 5 years have passed since the jurisdiction of the Court ended, or 5 years have passed since that initial contact with the law enforcement agency.
• If placed on probation, that term was terminated successfully.
• No convictions of misdemeanors or felonies involving moral turpitude.
• Rehabilitation has been attained to the satisfaction of the Court.
• You must not have any civil litigation pending.
• You must not have any outstanding fines, restitution, or traffic fines owed to the Court.
• You must not have been adjudicated of a Welfare and Institutions Code Section 707(b) offense.

Process:

•  If you meet the above listed requirements then print out the forms listed below, fill them out, and mail/scan/fax to the Probation Department.  If you do not have a printer, grab a copy of the forms from the Probation Department offices located in Mammoth Lakes and Bridgeport. 
• Once you have submitted the necessary documents, the investigating officer will confirm that what you answered on the forms is true.  The probation officer will search your name through several data systems such as DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), CLETS (California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System), NLETS (National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System), criminal history, and warrants. 
• Once the investigation is completed, the probation officer will either recommend to the Court to seal the juvenile record or not to seal the juvenile record.
• Regardless of the recommendation, a hearing will be set with the Juvenile Court and the Court will either order the juvenile records sealed or deny the request.
• If the Court orders your records sealed, the Court will then notify all the agencies that were involved in your case and order them to seal your juvenile record.