BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1006
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 10, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1006 (Yamada) - As Introduced: February 22, 2013
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires, effective January 1, 2015, courts and
probation departments to ensure information regarding the
potential sealing of juvenile records is provided to minors in
juvenile proceedings, as specified.
This bill also requires the Judicial Council to develop (a)
informational materials regarding the sealing of juvenile
records, and (b) a form for petitioning the court for
record-sealing.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor ongoing state-reimbursable GF costs, likely less than
$100,000 statewide, for county probation departments to
provide information to juveniles in the temporary custody of a
probation officer. Given this information would be provided in
the course of providing other information, costs should be
minor and reimbursement claims may not even be filed.
2)Minor one-time GF costs, likely less than $50,000, for state
courts to develop informational material regarding the sealing
of juvenile court records and a form for petitioning the court
for sealing.
3)Minor ongoing GF costs, likely less than $50,000, for state
courts to provide information to juveniles at the time of
legal proceedings. Given this information would be provided in
the course of providing other information, costs should be
minor.
AB 1006
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COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author contends the courts should take more
explicit action to make it clear to young people that they may
seek to have their juvenile records sealed and destroyed.
According to the author, "Youth who have completed their court
adjudicated debt to society should have an opportunity to
start over with a clean slate. Unfortunately, because of a
lack of formal process to inform youth of this right, many
former juvenile offenders are unaware that their records are
unsealed until they are refused a job, credit or housing. This
impedes the state's explicitly-stated goal of rehabilitating
youthful offenders and reintroducing them to society?.
"The State does not, however, require courts or probation
departments to provide information about the petition process
or to provide a form to petition the court. As a result, many
youth do not know how to petition the court or even know that
the option exists. Adding to the confusion and delay, many
youth, parents, and case managers are under the mistaken
impression that juvenile records are sealed automatically when
the youth turns 18."
2)Current law generally requires juvenile court records to be
destroyed when the person of record reaches the age of 38
unless good cause is shown for maintaining those records. The
person of record may also petition to destroy records retained
by other agencies. The request shall be granted unless good
cause is shown for retention of the records. When records are
destroyed under this section, the proceedings shall be deemed
to have never occurred.
To seal a juvenile court record, a petition must be filed by
either the subject or the probation department. Juvenile court
jurisdiction must have lapsed five years previously or the
person must be age 18. Records are not sealed if the person of
record has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor
involving moral turpitude. No offenses listed in WIC Section
707(b) (the serious offense list) may be sealed if the
juvenile was 14 years age or older at the time of the offense.
Additionally, there can be no pending civil litigation
involving the incident.
3)Support . According to the California Public Defenders
Association, "A standardized form for sealing juvenile
AB 1006
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records, plus a requirement that the information on sealing be
distributed to youth, is crucial. Laudably, this bill also
addresses the procedure for youth who are not formally
arrested and taken to court, but are instead taken to a
probation officer, a group who as of now has no instruction on
sealing."
4)Opposition . According to the California Probation, Parole and
Correctional Association,
"While we recognize the goal of the bill, we believe existing
law sets forth procedures for notifying and assisting
juveniles with sealing their records and see the proposed
provisions of this bill as adding significant new layers and
requirements to probation departments."
5)An identical bill, AB 337 (Torres), 2009, was vetoed by Gov.
Schwarzenegger, who wrote: "This measure would require each
court and probation department to ensure that information
regarding the sealing and destruction of juvenile records is
provided to each person for whom a petition has been filed, on
or after January 1, 2011. While this information could be
helpful to those individuals that qualify, competent counsel
should already be providing this information. Since this
measure would place an additional burden on government
entities that are already facing deep cuts to court programs
and probation departments due to the continuing fiscal crisis,
I am unable to sign this bill."
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081