BILL NUMBER: AB 337	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Torres

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2009

   An act to amend Section 781 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to juvenile court records.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 337, as introduced, Torres. Juvenile court records: sealing and
destruction.
   Existing law authorizes a person who is the subject of a juvenile
court record, or the county probation officer, to petition the court
for the sealing of the records relating to the person's case,
including records in the custody of the juvenile court and the
probation officer and any other agencies, including law enforcement
agencies and public officials as the petitioner alleges to have
custody of the records. The petition may be filed 5 years or more
after the jurisdiction of the juvenile court has terminated or, if no
petition was filed, 5 years or more after the person was cited to
appear before a probation officer or was taken before a probation
officer or law enforcement officer, or, in any case, at any time
after the person reaches 18 years of age. This provision does not
apply if the person was found by the juvenile court to have committed
any one of specified serious or violent offenses and the person was
14 years of age or older when he or she committed the offense.
Existing law also does not permit the sealing of a record for an
offense if the person has been convicted of that offense in criminal
court, as specified.
   This bill would require the court to provide to every person who
has reached 18 years of age and who is eligible to have his or her
records sealed with a written notification with a clear explanation
of that person's rights to have his or her records sealed and
destroyed.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 781 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   781.  (a) In any case in which a petition has been filed with a
juvenile court to commence proceedings to adjudge a person a ward of
the court, in any case in which a person is cited to appear before a
probation officer or is taken before a probation officer pursuant to
Section 626, or in any case in which a minor is taken before any
officer of a law enforcement agency, the person or the county
probation officer may, five years or more after the jurisdiction of
the juvenile court has terminated as to the person, or, in a case in
which no petition is filed, five years or more after the person was
cited to appear before a probation officer or was taken before a
probation officer pursuant to Section 626 or was taken before any
officer of a law enforcement agency, or, in any case, at any time
after the person has reached the age of 18 years, petition the court
for sealing of the records, including records of arrest, relating to
the person's case, in the custody of the juvenile court and probation
officer and any other agencies, including law enforcement agencies,
and public officials as the petitioner alleges, in his or her
petition, to have custody of the records.  The court shall
provide to every person who has reached 18 years of age, and who is
eligible to have his or her records sealed pursuant to this section,
a written notification with a clear explanation of that person's
rights to have his or her records sealed and destroyed.  The
court shall notify the district attorney of the county and the county
probation officer, if he or she is not the petitioner, and the
district attorney or probation officer or any of their deputies or
any other person having relevant evidence may testify at the hearing
on the petition. If, after hearing, the court finds that since the
termination of jurisdiction or action pursuant to Section 626, as the
case may be, he or she has not been convicted of a felony or of any
misdemeanor involving moral turpitude and that rehabilitation has
been attained to the satisfaction of the court, it shall order all
records, papers, and exhibits in the person's case in the custody of
the juvenile court sealed, including the juvenile court record,
minute book entries, and entries on dockets, and any other records
relating to the case in the custody of the other agencies and
officials as are named in the order. In any case in which a ward of
the juvenile court is subject to the registration requirements set
forth in Section 290 of the Penal Code, a court, in ordering the
sealing of the juvenile records of the person, also shall provide in
the order that the person is relieved from the registration
requirement and for the destruction of all registration information
in the custody of the Department of Justice and other agencies and
officials. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court
shall not order the person's records sealed in any case in which the
person has been found by the juvenile court to have committed an
offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707 when he or she had
attained 14 years of age or older. Once the court has ordered the
person's records sealed, the proceedings in the case shall be deemed
never to have occurred, and the person may properly reply accordingly
to any inquiry about the events, the records of which are ordered
sealed. The court shall send a copy of the order to each agency and
official named therein, directing the agency to seal its records and
stating the date thereafter to destroy the sealed records. Each such
agency and official shall seal the records in its custody as directed
by the order, shall advise the court of its compliance, and
thereupon shall seal the copy of the court's order for sealing of
records that it, he, or she received. The person who is the subject
of records sealed pursuant to this section may petition the superior
court to permit inspection of the records by persons named in the
petition, and the superior court may so order. Otherwise, except as
provided in subdivision (b), the records shall not be open to
inspection.
   (b) In any action or proceeding based upon defamation, a court,
upon a showing of good cause, may order any records sealed under this
section to be opened and admitted into evidence. The records shall
be confidential and shall be available for inspection only by the
court, jury, parties, counsel for the parties, and any other person
who is authorized by the court to inspect them. Upon the judgment in
the action or proceeding becoming final, the court shall order the
records sealed.
   (c) (1) Subdivision (a) does not apply to Department of Motor
Vehicle records of any convictions for offenses under the Vehicle
Code or any local ordinance relating to the operation, stopping and
standing, or parking of a vehicle where the record of any such
conviction would be a public record under Section 1808 of the Vehicle
Code. However, if a court orders a case record containing any such
conviction to be sealed under this section, and if the Department of
Motor Vehicles maintains a public record of such a conviction, the
court shall notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of the sealing
and the department shall advise the court of its receipt of the
notice.
   Notwithstanding any other provision of law, subsequent to the
notification, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall allow access to
its record of convictions only to the subject of the record and to
insurers which have been granted requestor code numbers by the
department. Any insurer to which such a record of conviction is
disclosed, when such a conviction record has otherwise been sealed
under this section, shall be given notice of the sealing when the
record is disclosed to the insurer. The insurer may use the
information contained in the record for purposes of determining
eligibility for insurance and insurance rates for the subject of the
record, and the information shall not be used for any other purpose
nor shall it be disclosed by an insurer to any person or party not
having access to the record.
   (2) This subdivision shall not be construed as preventing the
sealing of any record which is maintained by any agency or party
other than the Department of Motor Vehicles.
   (3) This subdivision shall not be construed as affecting the
procedures or authority of the Department of Motor Vehicles for
purging department records.
   (d) Unless for good cause the court determines that the juvenile
court record shall be retained, the court shall order the destruction
of a person's juvenile court records that are sealed pursuant to
this section as follows: five years after the record was ordered
sealed, if the person who is the subject of the record was alleged or
adjudged to be a person described by Section 601; or when the person
who is the subject of the record reaches the age of 38 if the person
was alleged or adjudged to be a person described by Section 602,
except that if the subject of the record was found to be a person
described in Section 602 because of the commission of an offense
listed in subdivision (b), of Section 707, when he or she was 14
years of age or older, the record shall not be destroyed. Any other
agency in possession of sealed records may destroy its records five
years after the record was ordered sealed.
   (e) This section shall not permit the sealing of a person's
juvenile court records for an offense where the person is convicted
of that offense in a criminal court pursuant to the provisions of
Section 707.1. This subdivision is declaratory of existing law.