California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1618

Introduced by Assembly Member Chesbro

February 6, 2014

An act to amend Section 827 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to juveniles.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1618, as introduced, Chesbro. Juveniles: case file inspection.

Existing law requires the case file of a dependent child or ward of the juvenile court to be kept confidential, except as specified. Existing law authorizes only certain persons to inspect the case file, including, among others, the attorneys for the parties, judges, referees, other hearing officers, and law enforcement officers, who are participating in proceedings involving the dependent child or ward.

This bill would clarify that the authorization for those specified persons to inspect the case file includes persons serving in a similar capacity for, or an authorized representative of, an Indian tribe, reservation, or tribal court when the case file involves an Indian child.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 827 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
is amended to read:

827.  

(a) (1) Except as provided in Section 828, a case file
may be inspected only by the following:

(A) Court personnel.

(B) The district attorney, a city attorney, or city prosecutor
authorized to prosecute criminal or juvenile cases under state law.

(C) The minor who is the subject of the proceeding.

(D)  The minor’s parents or guardian.

(E) The attorneys for the parties, judges, referees, other hearing
officers, probation officers, and law enforcement officers who are
actively participating in criminal or juvenile proceedings involving
the minor.

(F) The county counsel, city attorney, or any other attorney
representing the petitioning agency in a dependency action.

(G) The superintendent or designee of the school district where
the minor is enrolled or attending school.

(H) Members of the child protective agencies as defined in
Section 11165.9 of the Penal Code.

(I) The State Department of Social Services, to carry out its
duties pursuant to Division 9 (commencing with Section 10000),
and Part 5 (commencing with Section 7900) of Division 12, of the
Family Code to oversee and monitor county child welfare agencies,
children in foster care or receiving foster care assistance, and
out-of-state placements, Section 10850.4, and paragraph (2).

(J) Authorized legal staff or special investigators who are peace
officers who are employed by, or who are authorized
representatives of, the State Department of Social Services, as
necessary to the performance of their duties to inspect, license,
and investigate community care facilities, and to ensure that the
standards of care and services provided in those facilities are
adequate and appropriate and to ascertain compliance with the
rules and regulations to which the facilities are subject. The
confidential information shall remain confidential except for
purposes of inspection, licensing, or investigation pursuant to
Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 1500) and Chapter 3.4
(commencing with Section 1596.70) of Division 2 of the Health
and Safety Code, or a criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding
in relation thereto. The confidential information may be used by
the State Department of Social Services in a criminal, civil, or
administrative proceeding. The confidential information shall be
available only to the judge or hearing officer and to the parties to
the case. Names that are confidential shall be listed in attachments
separate to the general pleadings. The confidential information
shall be sealed after the conclusion of the criminal, civil, or
administrative hearings, and may not subsequently be released
except in accordance with this subdivision. If the confidential
information does not result in a criminal, civil, or administrative
proceeding, it shall be sealed after the State Department of Social
Services decides that no further action will be taken in the matter
of suspected licensing violations. Except as otherwise provided in
this subdivision, confidential information in the possession of the
State Department of Social Services may not contain the name of
the minor.

(K) Members of children’s multidisciplinary teams, persons, or
agencies providing treatment or supervision of the minor.

(L) A judge, commissioner, or other hearing officer assigned
to a family law case with issues concerning custody or visitation,
or both, involving the minor, and the following persons, if actively
participating in the family law case: a family court mediator
assigned to a case involving the minor pursuant to Article 1
(commencing with Section 3160) of Chapter 11 of Part 2 of
Division 8 of the Family Code, a court-appointed evaluator or a
person conducting a court-connected child custody evaluation,
investigation, or assessment pursuant to Section 3111 or 3118 of
the Family Code, and counsel appointed for the minor in the family
law case pursuant to Section 3150 of the Family Code. Prior to
allowing counsel appointed for the minor in the family law case
to inspect the file, the court clerk may require counsel to provide
a certified copy of the court order appointing him or her as the
minor’s counsel.

(M) A court-appointed investigator who is actively participating
in a guardianship case involving a minor pursuant to Part 2
(commencing with Section 1500) of Division 4 of the Probate
Code and acting within the scope of his or her duties in that case.

(N) A local child support agency for the purpose of establishing
paternity and establishing and enforcing child support orders.

(O) Juvenile justice commissions as established under Section
225. The confidentiality provisions of Section 10850 shall apply
to a juvenile justice commission and its members.

(P) Any other person who may be designated by court order of
the judge of the juvenile court upon filing a petition.

(2) (A) Notwithstanding any other law and subject to
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3), juvenile case files, except those
relating to matters within the jurisdiction of the court pursuant to
Section 601 or 602, that pertain to a deceased child who was within
the jurisdiction of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 300, shall
be released to the public pursuant to an order by the juvenile court
after a petition has been filed and interested parties have been
afforded an opportunity to file an objection. Any information
relating to another child or which could identify another child,
except for information about the deceased, shall be redacted from
the juvenile case file prior to release, unless a specific order is
made by the juvenile court to the contrary. Except as provided in
this paragraph, the presiding judge of the juvenile court may issue
an order prohibiting or limiting access to the juvenile case file, or
any portion thereof, of a deceased child only upon a showing by
a preponderance of evidence that release of the juvenile case file
or any portion thereof is detrimental to the safety, protection, or
physical or emotional well-being of another child who is directly
or indirectly connected to the juvenile case that is the subject of
the petition.

(B) This paragraph represents a presumption in favor of the
release of documents when a child is deceased unless the statutory
reasons for confidentiality are shown to exist.

(C) If a child whose records are sought has died, and documents
are sought pursuant to this paragraph, no weighing or balancing
of the interests of those other than a child is permitted.

(D) A petition filed under this paragraph shall be served on
interested parties by the petitioner, if the petitioner is in possession
of their identity and address, and on the custodian of records. Upon
receiving a petition, the custodian of records shall serve a copy of
the request upon all interested parties that have not been served
by the petitioner or on the interested parties served by the petitioner
if the custodian of records possesses information, such as a more
recent address, indicating that the service by the petitioner may
have been ineffective.

(E) The custodian of records shall serve the petition within 10
calendar days of receipt. If any interested party, including the
custodian of records, objects to the petition, the party shall file and
serve the objection on the petitioning party no later than 15
calendar days of service of the petition.

(F) The petitioning party shall have 10 calendar days to file any
reply. The juvenile court shall set the matter for hearing no more
than 60 calendar days from the date the petition is served on the
custodian of records. The court shall render its decision within 30
days of the hearing. The matter shall be decided solely upon the
basis of the petition and supporting exhibits and declarations, if
any, the objection and any supporting exhibits or declarations, if
any, and the reply and any supporting declarations or exhibits
thereto, and argument at hearing. The court may solely upon its
own motion order the appearance of witnesses. If no objection is
filed to the petition, the court shall review the petition and issue
its decision within 10 calendar days of the final day for filing the
objection. Any order of the court shall be immediately reviewable
by petition to the appellate court for the issuance of an
extraordinary writ.

(3) Access to juvenile case files pertaining to matters within the
jurisdiction of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 300 shall be
limited as follows:

(A) If a juvenile case file, or any portion thereof, is privileged
or confidential pursuant to any other state law or federal law or
regulation, the requirements of that state law or federal law or
regulation prohibiting or limiting release of the juvenile case file
or any portions thereof shall prevail. Unless a person is listed in
subparagraphs (A) to (O), inclusive, of paragraph (1) and is entitled
to access under the other state law or federal law or regulation
without a court order, all those seeking access, pursuant to other
authorization, to portions of, or information relating to the contents
of, juvenile case files protected under another state law or federal
law or regulation, shall petition the juvenile court. The juvenile
court may only release the portion of, or information relating to
the contents of, juvenile case files protected by another state law
or federal law or regulation if disclosure is not detrimental to the
safety, protection, or physical or emotional well-being of a child
who is directly or indirectly connected to the juvenile case that is
the subject of the petition. This paragraph shall not be construed
to limit the ability of the juvenile court to carry out its duties in
conducting juvenile court proceedings.

(B) Prior to the release of the juvenile case file or any portion
thereof, the court shall afford due process, including a notice of
and an opportunity to file an objection to the release of the record
or report to all interested parties.

(4) A juvenile case file, any portion thereof, and information
relating to the content of the juvenile case file, may not be
disseminated by the receiving agencies to any persons or agencies,
other than those persons or agencies authorized to receive
documents pursuant to this section. Further, a juvenile case file,
any portion thereof, and information relating to the content of the
juvenile case file, may not be made as an attachment to any other
documents without the prior approval of the presiding judge of the
juvenile court, unless it is used in connection with and in the course
of a criminal investigation or a proceeding brought to declare a
person a dependent child or ward of the juvenile court.

(5) Individuals listed in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), (D), (E),
(F), (H), and (I) of paragraph (1) may also receive copies of the
case file. In these circumstances, the requirements of paragraph
(4) shall continue to apply to the information received.

(b) (1) While the Legislature reaffirms its belief that juvenile
court records, in general, should be confidential, it is the intent of
the Legislature in enacting this subdivision to provide for a limited
exception to juvenile court record confidentiality to promote more
effective communication among juvenile courts, family courts,
law enforcement agencies, and schools to ensure the rehabilitation
of juvenile criminal offenders as well as to lessen the potential for
drug use, violence, other forms of delinquency, and child abuse.

(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), written notice that a minor
enrolled in a public school, kindergarten to grade 12, inclusive,
has been found by a court of competent jurisdiction to have
committed any felony or any misdemeanor involving curfew,
gambling, alcohol, drugs, tobacco products, carrying of weapons,
a sex offense listed in Section 290 of the Penal Code, assault or
battery, larceny, vandalism, or graffiti shall be provided by the
court, within seven days, to the superintendent of the school district
of attendance. Written notice shall include only the offense found
to have been committed by the minor and the disposition of the
minor’s case. This notice shall be expeditiously transmitted by the
district superintendent to the principal at the school of attendance.
The principal shall expeditiously disseminate the information to
those counselors directly supervising or reporting on the behavior
or progress of the minor. In addition, the principal shall disseminate
the information to any teacher or administrator directly supervising
or reporting on the behavior or progress of the minor whom the
principal believes needs the information to work with the pupil in
an appropriate fashion, to avoid being needlessly vulnerable or to
protect other persons from needless vulnerability.

Any information received by a teacher, counselor, or
administrator under this subdivision shall be received in confidence
for the limited purpose of rehabilitating the minor and protecting
students and staff, and shall not be further disseminated by the
teacher, counselor, or administrator, except insofar as
communication with the juvenile, his or her parents or guardians,
law enforcement personnel, and the juvenile’s probation officer
is necessary to effectuate the juvenile’s rehabilitation or to protect
students and staff.

An intentional violation of the confidentiality provisions of this
paragraph is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed
five hundred dollars ($500).

(3) If a minor is removed from public school as a result of the
court’s finding described in subdivision (b), the superintendent
shall maintain the information in a confidential file and shall defer
transmittal of the information received from the court until the
minor is returned to public school. If the minor is returned to a
school district other than the one from which the minor came, the
parole or probation officer having jurisdiction over the minor shall
so notify the superintendent of the last district of attendance, who
shall transmit the notice received from the court to the
superintendent of the new district of attendance.

(c) Each probation report filed with the court concerning a minor
whose record is subject to dissemination pursuant to subdivision
(b) shall include on the face sheet the school at which the minor
is currently enrolled. The county superintendent shall provide the
court with a listing of all of the schools within each school district,
within the county, along with the name and mailing address of
each district superintendent.

(d) Each notice sent by the court pursuant to subdivision (b)
shall be stamped with the instruction: “Unlawful Dissemination
Of This Information Is A Misdemeanor.” Any information received
from the court shall be kept in a separate confidential file at the
school of attendance and shall be transferred to the minor’s
subsequent schools of attendance and maintained until the minor
graduates from high school, is released from juvenile court
jurisdiction, or reaches the age of 18 years, whichever occurs first.
After that time the confidential record shall be destroyed. At any
time after the date by which a record required to be destroyed by
this section should have been destroyed, the minor or his or her
parent or guardian shall have the right to make a written request
to the principal of the school that the minor’s school records be
reviewed to ensure that the record has been destroyed. Upon
completion of any requested review and no later than 30 days after
the request for the review was received, the principal or his or her
designee shall respond in writing to the written request and either
shall confirm that the record has been destroyed or, if the record
has not been destroyed, shall explain why destruction has not yet
occurred.

Except as provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b), no
liability shall attach to any person who transmits or fails to transmit
any notice or information required under subdivision (b).

(e) For purposes of this section, a “juvenile case file” means a
petition filed in any juvenile court proceeding, reports of the
probation officer, and all other documents filed in that case or
made available to the probation officer in making his or her report,
or to the judge, referee, or other hearing officer, and thereafter
retained by the probation officer, judge, referee, or other hearing
officer.

begin insert

(f) The persons described in subparagraphs (A), (E), (F), (H),
(K), (L), (M), and (N) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) include
persons serving in a similar capacity for, or an authorized
representative of, an Indian tribe, reservation, or tribal court when
the case file involves an Indian child.

end insert