BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1945|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1945
Author: Mark Stone (D)
Amended: 6/23/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/14/16
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/28/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Juveniles: sealing of records
SOURCE: California Welfare Directors' Association
Commonweal The Juvenile Justice
DIGEST: This bill pertains generally to the sealing of
juvenile records, and 1) clarifies that existing sealing laws
pertaining to informal supervision or probation apply even if
the person with the juvenile records no longer is a minor; 2)
allows the county child welfare agency responsible for a minor
or nonminor dependent to access these sealed records for the
limited purpose of determining an appropriate placement or
service that has been ordered by the court, providing that the
information contained in the sealed record and accessed by the
child welfare worker or agency may be shared with the court or
with a service or placement provider as necessary to implement
the court-ordered service or placement but otherwise remain
confidential, as specified; 3) explicitly states in statute that
a juvenile case file that is covered by or included in record
sealing order pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section
781 or 786 may not be inspected except as specified by those
sections, as specified; and 4) makes additional conforming
AB 1945
Page 2
cross-references in related sections.
ANALYSIS:
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. (Welf. & Inst. Code (WIC), §
786, subd. (a).)
2)Allows a record sealed under this section to be accessed,
inspected, or utilized under certain circumstances, as
specified. (WIC § 786(f).)
3)Limits, generally, the inspection of juvenile case files, as
specified. (WIC § 827.)
4)Limits, generally, the release of juvenile police records in
Los Angeles County, as specified. (WIC § 827.9.)
This bill:
1)Revises the language described above in Existing law 1) to
clarify that the application of this section is not limited to
when a person is a minor, as specified.
2)Adds to the language described above in Existing law 1) that,
"a person is eligible to have his or her records sealed and
petition dismissed pursuant to this section after
satisfactorily completing an informal program of supervision
or another term of probation described in subdivision (a)
AB 1945
Page 3
while he or she was subject to the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court pursuant to Section 602."
3)Provides that a "case file that is covered by or included in
an order of the court sealing a record pursuant to Section 781
or 786 may not be inspected except as specified by Section 781
or 786."
4)Adds, with respect to Existing law 4) above, technical
cross-references to conform these provisions to other sections
pertaining to the sealing of records, as specified.
5)Makes an additional conforming cross-reference in WIC Section
828, concerning information gathered by a law enforcement
agency relating to the taking of a minor into custody, to
sealing provisions, as specified.
Background
Juvenile court records generally must be destroyed when the
person of record reaches the age of 38 unless good cause is
shown for maintaining those records. (WIC § 826.) The person
of record also may petition to destroy records retained by
agencies other than the court. (WIC § 826, subd. (b).) The
request must be granted unless good cause is shown for retention
of the records. (WIC § 826.) When records are destroyed
pursuant to the above provision, the proceedings "shall be
deemed never to have occurred, and the person may reply
accordingly to an inquiry." (WIC § 826, subd. (a).) Courts
have held that the phrase "never to have occurred" means that
the juvenile proceeding is deemed not to have existed. (Parmett
v. Superior Court (Christal B.) (1989) 212 Cal.App.3d 1261, at
1267.)
Minors adjudicated delinquent in juvenile court proceedings may
petition the court to have their records sealed unless they were
found to have committed certain serious offenses. (WIC § 781.)
To seal a juvenile court record, either the minor or the
AB 1945
Page 4
probation department must petition the court. (Ibid.) Juvenile
court jurisdiction must have lapsed five years previously, or
the person must be at least 18 years old. (WIC § 781, subd.
(a).) The records are not sealed if the person of record has
been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral
turpitude. (Ibid.) No offenses listed in WIC Section 707,
subdivision (b) may be sealed if the juvenile was 14 years or
older at the time of the offense. Additionally, there can be no
pending civil litigation involving the incident.
In 2014, the Legislature enacted a process for automatic
juvenile record sealing (i.e. without a petition from the minor)
in cases involving satisfactorily-completed informal supervision
or probation, except in cases involving serious offenses, namely
WIC Section 707, subdivision (b) offenses. (WIC § 786.) When
the record is sealed, the arrest in the case is deemed never to
have occurred. (Ibid.) The court must order all records in its
custody pertaining to the petition sealed. However, the
prosecuting attorney and the probation department can access
these records after they are sealed for the limited purpose of
determining whether the minor is eligible for deferred entry of
judgment. Also, the court may access the sealed file for the
limited purpose of verifying the prior jurisdictional status of
a ward who is petitioning the court to resume its jurisdiction.
(Ibid.)
Last year there were two follow up measures which permit the
probation department and district attorney to view the sealed
records for several other limited purposes, such as to determine
whether a minor is ineligible for informal supervision, to
comply with the requirements of federal Title IV-E, and for
purposes of determining a minor's prior program referrals and
risk-needs assessments.
Some juvenile record sealing laws generally have been
streamlined over the last few years. This bill refines these
revisions further.
AB 1945
Page 5
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 6/24/16)
California Welfare Directors' Association (co-source)
Commonweal The Juvenile Justice (co-source)
American Civil Liberties Union of California
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Youth Empowerment Network
County Welfare Directors Association
LJUNA Locals 777 & 792
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Urban Counties of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified 6/24/16)
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The author states:
SB 1038 (Leno), passed in 2014, and AB 666 (Stone), passed in
2015, both make it easier for juvenile records to be sealed
under WIC Sec. 786. While juvenile sealing already existed
under WIC 781, the process has been costly and previously
necessitated an individual to hire a lawyer and then petition
for a sealing of his or her juvenile record. SB 1038 and AB
666 provided an alternative and largely "automatic" process,
requiring the court to seal records on its own initiative in
non-707 offenses and upon satisfactory completion of
probation. The legal effect of sealing and dismissal is that
the offense is deemed not to have occurred as such by job and
college applicants.
WIC 786 specifies limited circumstances under which a record
that has been ordered sealed may be accessed, inspected or
utilized by prosecuting attorneys, probation departments or
AB 1945
Page 6
the courts. Child welfare agencies are not among those listed
entities, and as a result, social workers are unable to review
sealed juvenile court records in order to determine
appropriate placement and services.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: Legal Services for Prisoners with
Children opposes this bill, stating in part:
Although the intent of this bill is to help young people,
accessing their sealed court records in order to meet that
goal is not an appropriate means. Once a record is sealed it
should be treated as such. Increasing access to these records
may increase stigma against the young person as well as not
give real information about the situation or actions of the
young person. . . . We recommend that employees of child
welfare agencies have conversations with the young people they
are seeking to serve in order to ascertain what their needs
are. . . .
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/28/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes,
McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Daly, Olsen, Rodriguez
Prepared by:Alison Anderson / PUB. S. /
6/24/16 14:33:37
**** END ****
AB 1945
Page 7