Bill Text: CA AB2321 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Juvenile court records: access.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-09-30 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 329, Statutes of 2020. [AB2321 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB2321-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Assembly
May 11, 2020 |
Introduced by Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer |
February 14, 2020 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 781 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:781.
(a) (1) (A) If a petition has been filed with a juvenile court to commence proceedings to adjudge a person a ward of the court, if a person is cited to appear before a probation officer or is taken before a probation officer pursuant to Section 626, or if a minor is taken before any officer of a law enforcement agency, the person or the county probation officer may, five years or more after the jurisdiction of the juvenile court has terminated as to the person, or, if a petition is not filed, five years or more after the person was cited to appear before a probation officer or was taken before a probation officer pursuant to Section 626 or was taken before any officer of a law enforcement agency, or, in any case at any time after the person has reached 18 years of age, petition the court for sealing of the records, including records of arrest, relating to the person’s case, in the custody of the juvenile court and probation officer and any other agencies, including law enforcement agencies, entities, and public officials as the petitioner alleges, in the petition, to have custody of the records. The court shall notify the district attorney of the county and the county probation officer, if they are not the petitioner, and the district attorney or probation officer or any of their deputies or any other person having relevant evidence may testify at the hearing on the petition. If, after hearing, the court finds that since the termination of jurisdiction or action pursuant to Section 626, as the case may be, the person has not been convicted of a felony or of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude and that rehabilitation has been attained to the satisfaction of the court, it shall order all records, papers, and exhibits in the person’s case in the custody of the juvenile court sealed, including the juvenile court record, minute book entries, and entries on dockets, and any other records relating to the case in the custody of the other agencies, entities, and officials as are named in the order. 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 properly reply accordingly to any inquiry about the events, the records of which are ordered sealed.(II)A record relating to an offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707 that was committed after attaining 14 years of age that has been sealed pursuant to this section may be accessed, inspected, or utilized by a state or local law enforcement agency, prosecutor, judge, any other authority that has responsibility for the detection or investigation or prosecution of a qualifying crime or criminal activity, or agencies that have criminal detection or investigative jurisdiction in their respective areas of expertise for the limited purpose of processing the request of the victim or victim’s family member to certify victim helpfulness on the Form I-918 Supplement B certification or Form I-914 Supplement B declaration if the victim was a victim of a qualifying criminal activity as set forth in Section 679.10 or 679.11 of the Penal Code.
SEC. 2.
Section 786 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:786.
(a) If a person who has been alleged or found to be a ward of the juvenile court satisfactorily completes (1) an informal program of supervision pursuant to Section 654.2, (2) probation under Section 725, or (3) a term of probation for any offense, the court shall order the petition dismissed. The court shall order sealed all records pertaining to the dismissed petition in the custody of the juvenile court, and in the custody of law enforcement agencies, the probation department, or the Department of Justice. The court shall send a copy of the order to each agency and official named in the order, direct the agency or official to seal its records, and specify a date by which the sealed records shall be destroyed. If a record contains a sustained petition rendering the person ineligible to own or possess a firearm until 30 years of age pursuant to Section 29820 of the Penal Code, then the date the sealed records shall be destroyed is the date upon which the person turns 33 years of age. Each agency and official named in the order shall seal the records in its custody as directed by the order, shall advise the court of its compliance, and, after advising the court, shall seal the copy of the court’s order that was received. The court shall also provide notice to the person and the person’s counsel that it has ordered the petition dismissed and the records sealed in the case. The notice shall include an advisement of the person’s right to nondisclosure of the arrest and proceedings, as specified in subdivision (b).(L)By a state or local law enforcement agency, prosecutor, judge, any other authority that has responsibility for the detection or investigation or prosecution of a qualifying crime or criminal activity, or agencies that have criminal detection or investigative jurisdiction in their respective areas of expertise for the limited purpose of processing the request of the victim or victim’s family member to certify victim helpfulness on the Form I-918 Supplement B certification or Form I-914 Supplement B declaration if the victim was a victim of a qualifying criminal activity as set forth in Section 679.10 or 679.11 of the Penal Code.
(a)Notwithstanding any other law, upon satisfactory completion of a program of diversion or supervision to which a juvenile is referred by the probation officer or the prosecutor in lieu of the filing of a petition to adjudge the juvenile a ward of the juvenile court, including a program of informal supervision pursuant to Section 654, the probation department shall seal the arrest and other records in its custody relating to the juvenile’s arrest or referral and participation in the diversion or supervision program. Additionally, the probation department shall notify a public or private agency operating a diversion program to which the juvenile has been referred under these circumstances to seal records in the program operator’s custody relating to the arrest or referral and the participation of the juvenile in the diversion or
supervision program, and the operator of the program shall then promptly seal the records in its custody relating to the juvenile’s arrest or referral and participation in the program. Upon sealing of the records under this section, the arrest or offense giving rise to the person’s participation in the program shall be deemed not to have occurred and the individual may respond accordingly to any inquiry, application, or process in which disclosure of this information is requested or sought.
(b)The probation department shall notify the participant in the supervision or diversion program in writing that their record has been sealed pursuant to the provisions of this section based on
their satisfactory completion of the program. If the record is not sealed, the probation department shall notify the participant in writing of the reason or reasons for not sealing the record.
(c)Satisfactory completion of the program of supervision or diversion shall be defined for purposes of this section as substantial compliance by the participant with the reasonable terms of program participation that are within the capacity of the participant to perform. A determination of satisfactory or unsatisfactory completion shall be made by the probation department within 60 days of completion of the program by the juvenile, or if the juvenile does not complete the program, within 60 days of determining that the program has not been completed by the juvenile.
(d)An individual who receives notice from the probation department that
the individual has not satisfactorily completed the diversion program and that the record has not been sealed pursuant to this section may petition the juvenile court for review of the decision in a hearing in which the program participant may seek to demonstrate, and the court may determine, that the individual has met the satisfactory completion requirement and is eligible for the sealing of the record by the probation department and by the program operator under the provisions of this section.
(e)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the probation department of a county responsible for the supervision of a person may access a record sealed by a probation department pursuant to this section for the sole
purpose of complying with subdivision (e) of Section 654.3. The information contained in the sealed record and accessed by the probation department under this subdivision shall in all other respects remain confidential and shall not be disseminated to any other person or agency. Access to, or inspection of, a sealed record authorized by this subdivision shall not be deemed an unsealing of the record and shall not require notice to any other agency.
(f)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a state or local law enforcement agency, prosecutor, judge, any other authority that has responsibility for the detection or investigation or prosecution of a qualifying crime or criminal activity, or agencies that have criminal detection or investigative jurisdiction in their respective areas of expertise, may access a record sealed pursuant to this section for the limited purpose
of processing the request of the victim or victim’s family member to certify victim helpfulness on the Form I-918 Supplement B certification or Form I-914 Supplement B declaration if the victim was a victim of a qualifying criminal activity as set forth in Section 679.10 or 679.11 of the Penal Code.