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An Act To Limit the Dissemination of Juvenile Records
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §3308, sub-§8, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 744, §5, is amended to read:
 
8. Juvenile records sealed.   This subsection governs the sealing of records of a person adjudicated to have committed a juvenile crime.
 
A.  A person adjudicated to have committed a juvenile crime may petition the court to seal from public inspection all records pertaining to the juvenile crime and its disposition, and to any prior juvenile records and their dispositions if:
 
(1) At least 3 years have passed since the person's discharge from the disposition ordered for that juvenile crime;
 
(2) Since the date of disposition, the person has not been adjudicated to have committed a juvenile crime and has not been convicted of committing a crime; and
 
(3) There are no current adjudicatory proceedings pending for a juvenile or other crime.
 
A-1.  At the time that a person adjudicated to have committed a juvenile crime is discharged from the disposition ordered for that juvenile crime, the court shall automatically and immediately enter an order sealing from public inspection all records pertaining to the juvenile crime and its disposition.
 
B.  The court may grant the petition if it finds that the requirements of paragraph A are satisfied, unless it finds that the general public's right to information substantially outweighs the juvenile's interest in privacy.
 
C. Notwithstanding subsections 3, 3-A, 4 and 5, the court order sealing the records permits only the following persons to have access to the sealed records:
 
(1) The courts and criminal justice agencies as provided by this section; and
 
(2) The person whose juvenile records are sealed or that person's designee.
 
D. If the petition is granted, theA person whose juvenile records have been sealed under this subsection may respond to inquiries from other than the courts and criminal justice agencies about that person's juvenile crimes, the records of which have been sealed, as if the juvenile crimes had never occurred, without being subject to any sanctions.
 
SUMMARY
This bill provides for the sealing of juvenile records.
The bill changes the sealing process for juvenile records to provide that at the time a person who is adjudicated to have committed a juvenile crime is discharged from the disposition ordered for that juvenile crime, the court is required to automatically and immediately enter an order sealing from public inspection all records pertaining to the juvenile crime and its disposition.