Does your record get erased when you turn 18?

No. Under California law, turning 18 does not erase or seal a juvenile record. Turning 18 does allow a person to petition for sealing under Welf. & Inst. Code § 781 (with added conditions for § 707(b) offenses committed at 14 or older), and § 786 provides for sealing when probation or supervision is satisfactorily completed. Other states have their own rules.

What is the difference between sealing and expungement?

Sealing closes records to inspection, with limited exceptions. The terms used for this differ by state. In California, a § 786 sealing order also sets a date by which the sealed records are destroyed.

Who can still see a sealed juvenile record?

In California, access to sealed records is limited. For example, a prosecutor and a court may use a sealed § 707(b) record from age 14 or older in later felony or transfer matters. Under § 787, agencies may use sealed records for data reporting, and court-approved researchers may access them, without releasing personally identifying information.

Can a juvenile record affect college admissions or financial aid?

It can. School discipline, college admissions and financial aid consequences can follow a juvenile case, and they depend on rules this page does not cover. In California, § 786 provides that after sealing, a person may respond to inquiries from educational institutions as though the arrest and proceedings had not occurred.

What happens if the petition to seal is denied?

A denial means the court did not order the records sealed at that time. Whether a person may file again, and when, depends on the court and on the facts. Under California's § 781, the court looks at later convictions and at whether rehabilitation has been attained.

What is an attorney for a child in juvenile court called?

The minor's lawyer is usually called defense counsel or the minor's attorney. California's sealing statutes use the terms "defense counsel for the minor" and the person's "counsel." In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967), held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires, in proceedings to determine delinquency that may result in commitment to an institution in which the juvenile's freedom is curtailed, that the child and parents be notified of the child's right to be represented by counsel and that counsel be appointed if they cannot afford one. The juvenile defense basics guide covers this further.

Juvenile Record Sealing: How It Works, Step by Step

A juvenile record does not disappear when a person turns 18. Sealing is a separate legal step. Depending on the state and the case, it happens through a petition to the juvenile court or through a court or probation process triggered when probation, supervision or diversion is completed. In California, once a court orders records sealed, the proceedings are deemed never to have occurred, and the person may reply accordingly to inquiries about them.

Most people facing this process come to it at an uneasy moment. A job offer stalls on a background check, a housing or school application asks about past arrests, or a parent realizes that a case they thought had ended years ago still shows up. The questions are practical: does the record still exist, does it qualify for sealing, what has to be filed, and how long will it take. This guide walks through those steps in order, using California's law as the worked example and saying plainly where other states differ.

Before You Start: What Juvenile Record Sealing Is — and Is Not

Sealing closes records to inspection, with limited exceptions. Expungement is a related term. The label a state uses matters less than what its law says the order actually does.

A record is not erased automatically at 18. That is a common belief, and under California law it is not accurate. Sealing follows from a court order or from a specific statutory process.

Juvenile court uses its own vocabulary. A petition is the document that starts a case to make a minor a ward of the court, meaning a minor placed under the juvenile court's authority. The adjudication or jurisdiction hearing is where the court decides whether the petition's allegations are true. If they are found true, the petition is "sustained." The disposition is the court's order about what happens next, such as probation. These are not a criminal complaint, a trial, a conviction or a sentence.

No single national rule governs sealing. Who qualifies, when, and what sealing covers all differ by state. Throughout this guide, each rule described is California's rule unless stated otherwise. For the stages that come before sealing, see the overview of the juvenile court process.

Step 1: Confirm You Meet the Eligibility Requirements

California offers several routes to sealing. Which one applies depends on how the case ended.

When probation or supervision is completed. Under California's Welf. & Inst. Code § 786, when a person satisfactorily completes one of the following, the court must order the petition dismissed and the related records sealed:

an informal program of supervision under § 654.2,
probation under § 725, or
a term of probation for any offense (but see § 786(d) under Serious offenses below).

"Satisfactory completion" means no new finding of wardship and no conviction for a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude during the period of supervision or probation. It also means the person did not fail to substantially comply with the reasonable orders of supervision or probation that were within their capacity to perform. Unpaid restitution does not, by itself, count as unsatisfactory completion. If a petition was dismissed, or was not sustained after an adjudication hearing, § 786 also directs the court to seal the records.

When diversion is completed. Under California's § 786.5, the probation department must seal its records after a juvenile satisfactorily completes a diversion or supervision program. This applies when a probation officer or a prosecutor referred the juvenile to the program in place of filing a petition, including informal supervision under § 654.

By petition. Under California's § 781, a person, or the county probation officer, may petition the court to seal records in either of these situations:

five years or more after juvenile court jurisdiction ended (or, if no petition was filed, five years or more after the person was cited or taken before a probation officer or law enforcement officer), or
at any time after the person turns 18.

Serious offenses. For an offense listed in Welf. & Inst. Code § 707(b) that was committed at age 14 or older and resulted in wardship, California's § 781 allows a petition only after the person turns 18 and completes any probation imposed for that offense. A different condition applies to a person committed to the former Division of Juvenile Facilities: that person must have turned 21 and completed probation supervision after release. Those conditions do not apply if the court dismissed the offense or reduced it to a misdemeanor, and a record of such an offense for which the person is required to register under Penal Code § 290.008 cannot be sealed. Section 786 does not seal a sustained § 707(b) offense committed at 14 or older unless the finding was dismissed, or was reduced to a misdemeanor or to a lesser offense not on that list.

Other states set their own ages, offense categories and waiting periods.

Step 2: Gather the Documents You Will Need

This step usually means assembling the case history before anything is filed. The documents commonly involved include:

the case number and the name of the court where the juvenile case was heard,
probation department records showing that supervision or probation was completed,
any disposition orders from the juvenile court, and
identification, such as a birth certificate or a government-issued ID.

The exact list depends on the state and the court. Under California's § 781, a petition names the agencies the petitioner believes hold records, such as the juvenile court, the probation department and law enforcement agencies. Knowing which agencies were involved in the original case therefore matters.

The clerk of the juvenile court where the case was heard is typically where a person learns what that court requires, including any local forms.

Step 3: File the Petition or Application with the Juvenile Court

A petition to seal is generally filed in the juvenile court that handled the original case. Terms and forms vary by state.

Under California's § 781, once a petition is filed, the court notifies the district attorney of the county and the county probation officer, if either of them is not the petitioner. At the hearing on the petition, the district attorney, the probation officer or their deputies, or any other person with relevant evidence may testify.

Not every California case needs a § 781 petition. Section 786 directs the court itself to dismiss the petition and seal the records when a person satisfactorily completes probation or supervision. Section 786.5 places the duty to seal diversion records on the probation department. Each of those routes includes written notice to the person: from the court under § 786, and from the probation department under § 786.5.

Step 4: The Court Hearing (If One Is Scheduled)

Practice differs by state. California's § 781 describes a hearing on the petition.

At a California § 781 hearing, the court decides two questions. The first is whether, since jurisdiction ended, the person has been convicted of a felony or of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. The second is whether rehabilitation has been attained to the court's satisfaction. If the court finds that the person has no such conviction and that rehabilitation has been attained, the statute directs the court to order the records sealed.

Under § 781, the district attorney, the probation officer or their deputies, or any other person having relevant evidence may testify at the hearing. The hearing is a review of the person's history since the case ended.

The result is either an order sealing the records or a denial. Whether a person may file again after a denial, and when, depends on the court and on the facts.

Step 5: What Happens After the Court Issues a Sealing Order

Notice to agencies. Under California's § 781, the court sends a copy of its order to each agency, entity and official named in it. Each one must seal its records, tell the court that it has complied, and then seal its own copy of the order. Defense counsel for the minor is not ordered to seal their records. Section 786 adds that the court sets a date by which the sealed records are destroyed. If a sustained petition makes the person ineligible to own or possess a firearm until age 30, that destruction date is the person's 33rd birthday. Section 786 also requires the court to notify the person and their counsel that the case was dismissed and sealed, and of the right not to disclose it.

What sealing does. Under § 781, once records are sealed, the proceedings are deemed never to have occurred, and the person may answer inquiries accordingly. Section 786 extends this to inquiries from employers, educational institutions and others. If a ward was subject to sex offender registration requirements, a § 781 sealing order must also relieve the person of that requirement, except for the registrable § 707(b) offenses described under Serious offenses above.

Who may still see it. In California, sealed records remain accessible in limited circumstances, including these.

Under § 781, for a sealed § 707(b) offense committed at 14 or older, a prosecutor may use the record to make charging or sentencing decisions on a later felony, or to bring a transfer motion. A court may also use it to determine sentencing for a later felony or to decide a transfer motion.
Under § 787, agencies that hold sealed records may use them for required data reporting without releasing identifying information. A court may also authorize researchers to use them under confidentiality conditions.

Other consequences. Immigration consequences are governed by immigration law this page does not cover. School discipline, college admissions, financial aid and employment consequences can follow a juvenile case and depend on rules this page does not cover.

When the Process Gets More Complicated

Serious offenses under § 707(b)

California's § 707(b) list includes, among others, murder, robbery, attempted murder, and assault by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. When an offense on that list was committed at age 14 or older, the age, completion and access rules described above apply. Some charges, such as juvenile assault charges, can fall on either side of that line depending on how the offense is charged.

A later conviction

California's § 781 asks whether the person has been convicted of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude since jurisdiction ended. Section 781(a)(1)(G) adds that a person who has been convicted of a felony, or of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, may still obtain sealing relief if all of those convictions have since been dismissed, vacated, pardoned, or reduced to misdemeanors that do not involve moral turpitude.

A case transferred to adult court

Under California's § 707, a prosecutor may move to transfer certain minors to adult court. For a case tried as an adult, § 781(f) does not permit sealing of the person's juvenile court records for an offense of which the person is convicted in a criminal court under § 707.1.

Records in more than one place

Records may be held by the juvenile court, the probation department and law enforcement agencies. Under § 781, the petition names the agencies, entities and officials the petitioner alleges hold the records, and the court sends its order to each one named in it.

Typical Timeline: What to Expect from Start to Finish

Timing depends on the state, the court's calendar and whether anyone objects.

California's § 786.5 sets specific timelines for diversion records:

the probation department decides whether the program was satisfactorily completed within 60 days after completion,
law enforcement and the Department of Justice seal their records within 60 days of notice from probation, and
probation notifies the person in writing within 30 days after hearing back from those agencies.

If the probation department finds the program was not completed satisfactorily, the person may ask the juvenile court to review that decision.

The process is not instantaneous, and the timeline is best read as an orientation to the steps, not a clock running against the reader. For more background on earlier stages, see how juvenile crimes are handled.

Discussing Sealing a Juvenile Record

Sealing questions often turn on details buried in an old file: how the case ended, whether probation was completed, which agencies hold records, and whether an offense falls on the § 707(b) list. This page does not cover adult record relief or immigration law.

To talk through a sealing question with an attorney, contact Juvenile Justice Defense Group to request a consultation about a child's juvenile case.

How Juvenile Record Sealing Works: A Step-by-Step Guide