Learn about sealing juvenile records

If you were involved with the Justice system as a child or teenager, Marin County has a record of what happened. It’s called your juvenile record. It includes information about your arrest, the crime you were charged with, your trial, and probation.

If you want, you can request to have your record sealed. If your records are sealed:

• Your record will be kept private so the public can’t see it
• If someone asks the Marin County Court, Probation Department, or Police Department for information about you, those departments will say that they don't have any records. 
• If an employer or school runs a background check on you, your record won’t appear
• If an employer, school, or anyone else asks if you’ve been arrested or had a criminal history, you can say "no"

Sealing records give young people a second chance and a fresh start. We don’t want folks to be held back by mistakes they made when they were children or teens.

When you can apply to have your records sealed depends on how old you are now.

If you are now age 17(or younger)

it must be 5 years or more since:

• You were taken before any officer of a Law Enforcement
• You were cited to appear before a Probation Office
• Juvenile Court ended your probation

If it’s been less than 5 years, you need to wait to make the request to seal your records.

If you are now age 18 (or older)

If you're 18 or older, when you can get your records sealed depends on:

• The crime you were charged
• How long it’s been since parole ended.

If you are 18 or older, you are not allowed to get your records sealed if:

• You’re on probation or parole
• You have a pending matter in court
• You have outstanding traffic violations (like unpaid fines or you didn’t show up to a court date)
• Your driver’s license has been suspended or revoked
• You’ve been convicted of or charged with specific crimes
  • Convicted of a felony when you were 18 or older
  • Convicted of a misdemeanor involving “moral turpitude” (like theft, fraud, or sexual offenses ) when you were 18 or older
  • Charged with any serious offenses that fall under Section 707(b) of the Welfare and Institutions Code (serious felonies involving violence). Please refer to the Welfare and Institutions offenses listed in the record sealing document.

In specific cases, a few organizations are legally allowed to look at your sealed records.

• Your insurance company. By law, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will give your insurance company access to your sealed records. The insurance company may use this information to decide whether to give your insurance or set your rates. They aren’t allowed to share the information with anyone else.
• The Federal Government. This may happen if you’re applying for security clearance with the Federal Government (for a job) or work for a company that does business with it. Also, remember that people may still be able to find information about your case on the internet (on news sites and social media, for example). Unfortunately, we don’t have control over that.

You can apply to seal your juvenile record by completing the record sealing document.