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Confidentiality of Juvenile Offense Histories - A Statutory Review

NCJ Number
100119
Date Published
1983
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes Arthur D. Little's examination of juvenile codes from the 50 States and the District of Columbia regarding the confidentiality of juvenile law enforcement and court records.
Abstract
Five areas are analyzed: (1) separate record storage requirements (juvenile from adult) and restrictions on central storage of juvenile records; (2) specific restrictions on record access by law enforcement, prosecutors and defenders, juvenile and adult courts, corrections, treatment agencies, and other special users such as the media, military, and employers, (3) sealing and expunging provisions; (4) provisions and restrictions on fingerprinting and photographing of juveniles; and (5) other provisions such as record quality. A general summary outlines State statutory provisions in these areas. Appended material provides matrices comparing the juvenile code provisions of the 50 States for access to juvenile court records and law enforcement records, for fingerprinting and photographing, and for the sealing and destruction of records. 23 footnotes.