BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1006 (Yamada) - Juvenile court records: sealing and
destruction.
Amended: May 8, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 5-2
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: June 24, 2013
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1006 would require, on and after January 1,
2015, courts and probation departments to ensure information
regarding the potential sealing of juvenile court records is
provided to minors in juvenile proceedings, as specified. In
addition, this bill would require the Judicial Council to
develop informational materials and a form to petition the court
for the sealing and destruction of records.
Fiscal Impact:
Minor ongoing state-reimbursable costs (General Fund) for
county probation departments to provide the informational
material, given this information would be provided in the
course of providing other information.
One-time minor costs to the Judicial Council of
approximately $10,000 (General Fund*) to develop the
informational materials and form.
Minor ongoing costs (General Fund*) for courts to provide
information to juveniles at the time of legal proceedings
and process a potential increase in requests for the sealing
of records.
*Trial Court Trust Fund
Background: Current law provides that five years or more after
the jurisdiction of the juvenile court has terminated over a
person adjudged a ward of the court or after a minor appeared
before a probation officer, or, in any case, at any time after
the person has reached the age of 18, the person or county
probation officer, with specified exceptions, may petition the
juvenile court for sealing of the records, including arrest
records, relating to the person's case, in the custody of the
AB 1006 (Yamada)
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juvenile court, the probation officer, or any other agency or
public official (Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) � 781(a)).
Under current law, 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 reply accordingly to
any inquiry about the events (WIC � 781(a)).
Existing law prohibits the sealing or destruction of juvenile
records if 1) the person has been convicted of a felony or
misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, or, 2) the person has
been found by the juvenile court to have committed an offense
listed in WIC � 707(b) (list of serious offenses such as murder,
arson, robbery, or kidnapping) when he or she had attained 14
years of age or older.
This bill would ensure that youth are provided with information
about the sealing of records and the petition process upon
termination of jurisdiction of the court or when the case is
dismissed.
Proposed Law: This bill would require, on and after January 1,
2015, courts and probation departments to provide information
regarding the eligibility for and procedures to request the
sealing and destruction of juvenile court records to minors in
juvenile proceedings, as specified.
In addition, this bill would require the Judicial Council to, on
or before January 1, 2015, do both of the following:
Develop informational materials regarding the sealing and
destruction of records.
Develop a form to petition the court for the sealing and
destruction of records.
Prior Legislation: AB 337 (Torres) 2009 was substantially
similar to this measure and was vetoed by the Governor with the
following message:
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.
AB 1006 (Yamada)
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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.
Staff Comments: The Judicial Council has indicated the
provisions of this bill will require the revision of one form
and an amendment to one rule of court. These changes are
estimated to result in one-time minor costs of $7,000 in staff
time to develop the form and revise the rule, as well as $3,000
for additional expenses related to the translation of the form
into various languages. The Judicial Council has indicated that
to the extent additional petitions for the sealing of records
are received due to the provision of this information would
result in a minor workload impact to the courts. Likewise, the
costs for courts to provide the form to juveniles at the time of
legal proceedings is estimated to be minor and absorbable given
this information would be provided in the course of providing
other information.
By requiring probation departments to ensure information
regarding the eligibility and process for sealing of records is
provided to each applicable juvenile, this bill creates a new
mandate on county probation officers. This mandate is estimated
to be minor, however, as it would entail distributing the
material/form already developed by the Judicial Council to a
juvenile during interactions in which other materials are likely
being distributed. In addition, by providing probation officers
with a prepared, self-explanatory informational document and
form could potentially streamline existing processes to the
extent probation officers are currently taking time to explain
the process to individuals.