If you committed any crime before you turned 18, you may encounter discrimination because of your youthful indiscretions. You may be perfectly qualified for certain jobs, only to be disappointingly turned away during preliminary interviews, with no explanation provided. It may be difficult to rent an apartment or even to buy a car when people find out that you have a criminal record, even though it only includes offenses from when you were a minor. Getting into college might even be more challenging because of your juvenile crime record. Establishing friendships might also become rather cumbersome when you have to worry about explaining your juvenile criminal record at some point.
The good news is that there’s something you can do about it today.
Juvenile records are publicly available to everyone
Lots of people assume that juvenile crime records are automatically sealed when you turn 18, but that’s not the case in California. These records are publicly available for anyone to see unless you proactively seek out a judicial order to have them sealed and destroyed.
Contents of a juvenile record
Your juvenile record includes every piece of information about criminal activity you were allegedly involved with as a minor, including arrest reports, judge’s findings and rulings, exhibits, and probation reports. Sealing your juvenile record means that it will no longer be part of the public record—no one will even know that you had a juvenile crime record at all from that moment on.
Complete freedom from juvenile crime record
After your record is sealed, if someone asks if you’ve ever been arrested (and the only time you’ve been arrested is as a minor), you’ll be able to truthfully answer “no.” Likewise, if you’re asked if you have a criminal record or even if you have a sealed record, you can feel free to confidently answer “no” to these questions.
Key eligibility requirements
Not everyone is eligible to petition to have their juvenile records sealed—
there are some important exceptions. To have your records sealed, you must be at least 18, you can’t have committed certain crimes as an adult such as theft, fraud, sex offenses, and certain drug offenses, the court must believe that you have been rehabilitated, and there must not be any pending civil litigation resulting from any of your juvenile crimes. In addition, you are ineligible to have your records sealed if you committed certain crimes after you turned 18, such as murder, a serious sex crime, robbery, and others.
Start today by calling the Chambers Law Firm
If you want to learn more about the eligibility requirements and start the process of sealing your juvenile crime record today, contact Dan Chambers of the Chambers Law Firm for a free consultation now. Just call 714-760-4088, email dchambers@clfca.com, or click “Contact” in the menu above to send an online message.
It’s an important legal process that might seem like a hassle to go through right now, but you’ll be able to reap a lifetime of benefits when your juvenile record has been sealed and destroyed. You’ll finally have the freedom to move on in your life without any fear of discrimination because of your past.
