BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 666 (Mark Stone) - Juveniles: sealing of records
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|Version: July 15, 2015 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 5 - 1 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 666 would make numerous revisions concerning the
sealing of juvenile records and the dismissal of juvenile cases,
as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
Potentially significant state court costs in the range of
$200,000 to $400,000 (General Fund*) annually to comply with
the administrative and noticing requirements specified in the
bill.
Minor one-time costs of $10,000 to $20,000 (General Fund*) to
the Judicial Council for the creation of rules and necessary
forms.
Potentially significant ongoing state-reimbursable costs in
the hundreds of thousands dollars (General Fund) annually to
local law enforcement agencies and probation departments to
seal and subsequently destroy all specified records in the
entity's custody. Costs would vary by county and be dependent
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on the number and volume of records to be sealed and
destroyed.
*Trial Court Trust Fund
Background: Existing law requires the juvenile court to order the petition
of a minor to be dismissed if the minor satisfactorily completes
a term of probation or an informal program of supervision, as
specified, and requires the court to seal all records, without a
petition from the minor, in the custody of the juvenile court
pertaining to the dismissed petition, except as specified. Under
existing law, the court is prohibited from automatically
dismissing a petition and sealing the records of a minor who has
completed a term of probation for any of the serious offenses
listed in WIC § 707(b). (Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) §
786(a).)
Additionally, existing law prohibits, notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the court from ordering a person's records
sealed in any case in which the person has been found to have
committed an offense listed in WIC § 707(b) [30 enumerated
offenses including murder, arson, robbery, and rape] when he or
she had attained 14 years of age or older, which are offenses
for which certain minors could be tried in adult court under
specified circumstances. (WIC § 781(a).)
Once the court has ordered the records sealed, the arrest
upon which the judgment was deferred is deemed never to
have occurred. The relief consists of sealing the records
in the custody of the juvenile court, except the
prosecuting attorney and the probation department are
allowed access to these records after they are sealed for
the limited purpose of determining whether the minor is
eligible for deferred entry of judgment, and the court may
access the file for the limited purpose of verifying the
prior jurisdictional status of a ward who is petitioning
the court to resume its jurisdiction, as specified.
This bill seeks to additionally require the court to order
records in the custody of law enforcement agencies, the
probation department, and the DOJ to be sealed upon a
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juvenile petition being dismissed. Additionally, this bill
expands the population of individuals eligible to have
their records sealed upon having their petition dismissed
to minors who satisfactorily compete a term of probation
for offenses listed in WIC § 707(b) but were under the age
of 14 at the time of the offense.
Proposed Law:
This bill would revise existing provisions of law related to
the sealing of juvenile records and the dismissal of juvenile
cases, as follows:
Requires a court to order sealed all records pertaining to a
dismissed petition in the custody of the juvenile court, and
in the custody of law enforcement agencies, the probation
department, or the DOJ.
Requires the court to send a copy of the order to each agency
and official named therein, directing the agency to seal its
records and specifying a date thereafter to destroy the sealed
records.
States that each such agency and official shall seal the
records in its custody as directed by the order, advise the
court of its compliance and thereupon seal the copy of the
court's order or sealing of records that was received.
Requires the court to provide notice to the minor and minor's
counsel that it has ordered the petition dismissed and the
record sealed in the case, including notice of the minor's
right to nondisclosure of the arrest and proceedings as
specified.
States that upon the court's order of dismissal of the
petition, the arrest and other proceedings in the case shall
be deemed not to have occurred and the person who was the
subject of the petition may properly reply accordingly to any
inquiry by employers, educational institutions or other
persons or entities regarding the arrest and proceedings in
the case.
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Provides that satisfactory completion of informal supervision
or another term of probation shall be deemed to have occurred
if the person has no new finding of wardship or conviction for
a felony offense for or a misdemeanor involving moral
turpitude during the period of supervision or probation and if
he or she has not failed substantially to comply with the
reasonable orders of supervision or probation that are within
his or her capacity to perform.
Specifies that a record that has been ordered sealed by the
court under this section may be accessed, inspected or used
only under the following circumstances:
o By the prosecuting attorney and the probation
department for the limited purpose of determining whether
the minor is eligible for deferred entry of judgment or
for a program of supervision, as defined.
o By the court for the limited purpose of verifying
the prior jurisdictional purpose of a ward who is
petitioning the court to resume its jurisdiction.
o If a new petition has been filed against a minor for
a felony offense, by the probation department for the
limited purpose of identifying the minor's previous
court-ordered programs or placements, and in that event
solely to determine the individual's eligibility or
suitability for remedial programs or services. The
information obtained under this exception shall not be
disseminated to other agencies or individuals, except as
necessary to implement referral to a remedial program or
service, and shall not be used to support the imposition
of penalties or detention or other sanctions upon the
minor.
o By the person whose record has been sealed, upon his
or her request and petition to the court to permit
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inspection of the records.
States that access to or inspection of a sealed record
authorized by these provisions shall not be deemed an
opening of the record and shall not require notice to any
other agency.
Requires the Judicial Council to adopt rules of court,
and shall make available appropriate forms, providing for
the standardized implementation of this section by the
juvenile courts.
Revises the exclusion of WIC § 707(b) offenses from
sealing under this section to specify that the offense must
have been committed when the minor was 14 years of age or
older unless the finding on that offense was dismissed or
was reduced to a lesser offense that is not listed in WIC §
707(b).
States the finding of the Legislature that in order to
protect the privacy of children who have had their juvenile
delinquency court records sealed, it is necessary that
related records in the custody of law enforcement agencies,
the probation department, or any other public agency also
be sealed.
Authorizes the court, in making its order to seal the
record and dismiss the instant petition pursuant to this
section, include an order to seal a record relating to, or
to dismiss, any prior petition or petitions that have been
filed or sustained against the individual and that appear
to the satisfaction of the court to meet the sealing and
dismissal criteria otherwise described in this section.
Authorizes a record sealed to be accessed by a law
enforcement agency, probation department, court, or other
state or local agency that has custody of the sealed record
for the limited purpose of complying with data collection
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or data reporting requirements that are imposed by other
provisions of law. However, no personally identifying
information from a sealed record accessed under this
subdivision may be released, disseminated, or published by
or through an agency, department, court, or individual that
has accessed or obtained information from the sealed
record.
Provides that a court may authorize a researcher or
research organization to access information contained in
records that have been sealed pursuant to WIC §§ 781 or 786
for the purpose of conducting research on juvenile justice
populations, practices, policies, or trends, subject to
specified conditions.
Related
Legislation: SB 504 (Lara) 2015 would provide that only a
person 26 years of age or older may be charged a fee for
petitioning the court for an order sealing his or her record.
This bill is pending hearing in the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations.
AB 989 (Cooper) 2015 would provide limited access to otherwise
sealed juvenile records to district attorneys and probation
departments, as specified. This bill is pending on the Senate
Floor.
Prior Legislation: SB 1038 (Leno) Chapter 249/2014 provides for
the automatic dismissal of juvenile petitions and sealing of
records, as specified, in cases where a juvenile offender
successfully completes probation, and authorizes the juvenile
court to dismiss a delinquency petition after a person reaches
the age of 21.
Staff
Comments: The Judicial Council has indicated a potentially
significant ongoing workload impact to identify agencies and/or
individuals named in a juvenile order to seal records, send the
order to the named agencies and/or officials, receive and
properly file the order of compliance, and provide notice to the
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minor and minor's counsel that the court has complied with this
section. Assuming 15 to 30 minutes of court clerk time to
complete the noticing and other administrative activities
specified in the bill for an estimated 50 percent of potentially
impacted juvenile petitions filed (approximately 15,500
petitions), after adjusting for petitions that would not qualify
to have records sealed, would result in increased costs in the
range of $200,000 to $400,000 per year. To the extent the number
of juvenile petitions filed fluctuates from year to year would
impact costs accordingly.
The Judicial Council has also indicated one-time minor costs of
$10,000 to $20,000 for the creation of rules and necessary
forms.
By mandating a higher level of service on local agencies,
specifically by requiring local law enforcement agencies and
probation departments to seal records for the specified juvenile
cases in their custody, this bill creates a state mandated local
program. Ongoing costs to seal and subsequently destroy all
specified records in the entity's custody would vary by county
and be dependent on the number and volume of records to be
sealed and destroyed. While the records would be sealed upon
order of the court, the provisions of this bill mandate the
court to order this higher level of service so it is likely
these costs could be determined to be reimbursable by the state.
The DOJ has indicated no significant impact associated with the
provisions of this measure.
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