With all the changes to Ohio expungement laws, many people with criminal records in Ohio may be trying to keep up to date. We have a whole section on our blog dedicated to Ohio expungement laws. We wrote many of these articles to deal with changes to Ohio’s expungement laws as they happened. Other articles deal with juvenile expungement in Ohio. Ohio law clearly has specific rules for expungement of juvenile records. Have these rules been changing along with the rules for adults?
Has Ohio Juvenile Expungement Changed in Recent Years?
They have not changed nearly as much as the rules for adult court. It is true that the sections of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) dealign with sealing and expungement of juvenile records have revisions as recent as April of 2023. But there have not been nearly as many revisions to the sections on juvenile expungement as there have been to adult expungement over the past 10 years or so. And the revisions have not been nearly as drastic when it comes to juvenile law.
So What Are the Rules for Juvenile Expungement in Ohio?
Like adult court, most records in juvenile court have to be sealed before they can be expunged. The juvenile may have to apply for the sealing of records, especially if the case ended with an adjudication of delinquency. For the court to consider a sealing application for approval, the proper time must have passed.
Even in juvenile court, expunging and sealing a record are different. Sealing a record takes the record out of the public view, and expunging a record destroys it completely.
With some exceptions, the juvenile court will expunge a sealed record five years after the sealing of the record, or when the juvenile turns 23 years old. People with juvenile records in Ohio, can also apply for expungement, and the court can then decide whether or not to approve the application.
Conclusion
At Dearie, Fischer & Martinson, our attorneys have over 30 years of experience in Ohio Juvenile Courts. We help juveniles, not only with the sealing and expungement process, but with their initial cases as well. If you or child would like to speak to an attorney about a criminal or delinquency case, contact Dearie, Fischer & Martinson LLC today!
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