What is the Process for Expunging a Juvenile Record in Illinois?

 Posted on April 11, 2018 in Juvenile Crimes

Childhood should be a time of growth and learning. Unfortunately for some children, their childhood is spent in and out of courthouses and juvenile detention centers. The premise behind rehabilitating those who commit crimes is to give them a second chance in life. With this thought in mind, who deserves a second shot more than a child?

A juvenile is someone who is under the age of 18. Each timea person is arrested, a record is createdand consists of a police report, computer database reports, or any other court document that is created in connection with the arrest or charge. All law enforcement and court records with cases involving juveniles are sealed.

A sealed record means that most people are not able to view the records,as theymay be able to with adult records. Even though the records are sealed, there arevarious instanceswhere potential employers could see the records.However, one way to avoid sealed records being seen is through a process called expungement.

What is Expungement?

An expungement is a court-ordered process through which a record is essentially erased in the eyes of the law. After a record is expunged, a person will usually not have to disclose an arrest or convictions on a job application, or other situations in which criminal records are disclosed or a background check is run.

Certainjuvenile records are automatically expunged. First, arrests that did not result in conviction are automatically expunged after one year. However, there cannot be any other arrests or charges within the six months before the expungement occurs. Additionally, arrests and court records are expunged when they result in a dismissal, finding of no delinquency, supervision that is terminated successfully, guilty verdicts of Class B or C misdemeanors, petty business offenses, and guilty verdicts for Class A misdemeanors or non-violent felonies.

In the case of the Class A misdemeanors or non-violent felonies, the expungement will happen two years after the case is closed.Additionally, there must be no other pending cases or guilty findings.

Automatic expungements do not occur for every juvenile crime. In the event that there is no automatic expungement, there are paths to trying to get expungement. You must file a petition with the court and attend a hearing in front of an appointed judge. Law enforcement or the state’s attorney has 45 days to object to the expungement. The hearing takes place after the 45-day period.

Contact Us Today forLegal Assistance Today

If you have a child with a juvenile record, or you have a prior juvenile record that needs expunged, The Law Offices of Christopher M. Cosley can help. Talented Rolling Meadows criminal defense attorney Christopher Cosley has a proven track record representing juvenile clients. Let us help you throughout each step of your case.

Source:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=070504050K5-915