BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                       AB 989


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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING


          AB  
          989 (Cooper)


          As Amended  April 16, 2015


          Majority vote


           ------------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Committee       |Votes |Ayes                  |Noes                |
          |----------------+------+----------------------+--------------------|
          |Public Safety   |7-0   |Quirk, Melendez,      |                    |
          |                |      |Gonzalez,             |                    |
          |                |      |Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, |                    |
          |                |      |Low, Santiago         |                    |
           ------------------------------------------------------------------- 


          SUMMARY:  Authorizes the district attorney and probation  
          department to access sealed juvenile records for additional  
          limited purposes.  Specifically, this bill:  
          1)Authorizes the prosecutor and the probation department to access  
            a juvenile's sealed records for the limited purpose of  
            determining whether the minor is ineligible for informal  
            supervision.
          2)States that if a new petition has been filed against the minor  
            for a felony offense, the probation department can access the  
            sealed records 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 pursuant to this subparagraph shall not be disseminated  
            to other agencies or individuals, except as necessary to  
            implement a referral to a remedial program or service, and shall  








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            not be used to support the imposition of penalties, detention,  
            or other sanctions upon the minor.


          3)Authorizes the probation department to access sealed juvenile  
            records for the limited purpose of meeting Federal Title IV-E  
            compliance.


          4)States that this access shall not be considered an unsealing of  
            the records.


          EXISTING LAW:  


          1)Provides that, if a minor satisfactorily completes an informal  
            program of supervision, probation as specified, or a term of  
            probation for any offense other than a specified serious,  
            sexual, or violent offense, then the court shall order sealed  
            all records pertaining to that dismissed petition in the custody  
            of the juvenile court, except that the prosecuting attorney and  
            the probation department of any county shall have access to  
            these records after they are sealed for the limited purpose of  
            determining whether the minor is eligible for deferred entry of  
            judgment.  The court may access a file that has been sealed  
            pursuant to this section for the limited purpose of verifying  
            the prior jurisdictional status of a ward who is petitioning the  
            court to resume its dependency or delinquency jurisdiction.   
            This access shall not be deemed an unsealing of the record and  
            shall not require notice to any other entity. 
          2)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 juvenile court, the  








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            probation officer, or any other agency or public official.  


          3)States that 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.  


          4)Permits the court to access a file that has been sealed for the  
            limited purpose of verifying the prior jurisdictional status of  
            the ward who is petitioning the court to resume its  
            jurisdiction, as specified.  This access is not to be deemed an  
            unsealing of the records.  


          5)Allows a judge of the juvenile court in which a petition was  
            filed to dismiss the petition, or to set aside the findings and  
            dismiss the petition, if the court finds that the interests of  
            justice and the welfare of the person who is the subject of the  
            petition require that dismissal, or if it finds that he or she  
            is not in need of treatment or rehabilitation.  The court has  
            jurisdiction to order dismissal or setting aside of the findings  
            and dismissal regardless of whether the person who is the  
            subject of the petition is, at the time of the order, a ward or  
            dependent child of the court.  


          6)Allows the probation officer to destroy all records and papers  
            in the proceedings concerning a minor after five years from the  
            date on which the jurisdiction of the juvenile court over the  
            minor is terminated.  


          7)States that any person who was under the age of 18 when he or  
            she was arrested for a misdemeanor may petition the court in  
            which the proceedings occurred or, if there were no court  
            proceedings, the court in whose jurisdiction the arrest  
            occurred, for an order sealing the records in the case,  








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            including any records of arrest and detention, in certain  
            circumstances.  


          8)Provides that a person who was under the age of 18 at the time  
            of commission of a misdemeanor and is eligible for, or has  
            previously received expungement relief, may petition the court  
            for an order sealing the record of conviction and other official  
            records in the case, including arrest records and records  
            relating to other offenses charged in the accusatory pleading,  
            whether the defendant was acquitted, or the charges dismissed.   
            Thereafter the conviction, arrest, or other proceeding shall be  
            deemed not to have occurred, and the petitioner may answer  
            accordingly any question relating to their occurrence.  


          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown.  This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the  
          Legislative Counsel.


          COMMENTS:  According to the author, "In 2014, SB 1038 (Leno) [Chapter 249,  
          Statutes of 2014] regarding juvenile records sealing was signed  
          into law.  The bill provided for the automatic dismissal of  
          juvenile petitions and sealing of records in cases where a  
          juvenile offender successfully completes probation.  The intent  
          was to provide incentives for youth to successfully complete  
          probation and foster employment, housing, and education  
          opportunities by setting forth a process to have juvenile records  
          sealed.



          "Upon implementation there have been varying legal opinions as to  
          whether probation records such as program referrals and risk/needs  
          assessments are considered part of the court record and would  
          therefore be required to be sealed under the provisions of SB  
          1038.  This inhibits the ability of probation to access their  
          internal records should a minor, who has had their record sealed,  
          come back into the custody of the juvenile court and probation  








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          department.



          "Therefore, there are cases when a youth comes back into the  
          custody of the juvenile court and probation is unable to view  
          their previous program referrals and risk/needs assessments to  
          make the most appropriate determination on getting them connected  
          to services.  Further, it is important that probation be able to  
          access records on a limited basis for the purposes of determining  
          AB 12 [(Beall), Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010] extended foster  
          care eligibility, eligibility for informal probation, and Federal  
          Title IV-E purposes.  In order to achieve the best outcomes for  
          these minors, it is important that probation have access to this  
          information to make the most effective case plan determinations  
          for the minor's treatment.



          "AB 989 would continue the practice and original intent of SB 1038  
          to ensure that minors' records are automatically sealed upon  
          successful completion and would clarify that in cases where a  
          juvenile record has been sealed pursuant to Welfare and  
          Institutions Code 786, if a youth subsequently comes back into the  
          custody of the juvenile court, probation may access limited  
          information as it pertains to determining AB 12 extended foster  
          care eligibility, informal probation eligibility, Federal Title  
          IV-E purposes, previous risk/needs assessments, and prior program  
          and service referrals in order to most appropriately develop a  
          case plan to address the treatment needs of the minor."




          Analysis Prepared by:                                               
                          Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744  FN:  
          0000137










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