(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 his or her record has been sealed pursuant to the provisions of this section based on his or her 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 he or she 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 he or she 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.
(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 685, Sec. 2. (AB 529) Effective January 1, 2018.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018