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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021)
HOUSE BILL 1952 By: Cruz
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to children; amending 10A O.S. 2011,
Section 2-6-109, which relates to expungements;
providing a process by which a person or child may
expunge a juvenile court record; providing
requirements; providing definition; providing notice
requirements; providing exceptions; and providing an
effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 10A O.S. 2011, Section 2 -6-109, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 2-6-109. A. A person or the child, or the parent,
legal guardian or the attorney for the child, who is the subject of
a juvenile court record , that is not confidential as provided by
law, may petition the district court in which the juvenile court
record is located for an order to expunge all or any part of the
record pertaining to the person or the child., except basic
identification information; pr ovided:
B. The petition for expungement may be filed either as an oral
or written petition for an order to expunge the record pertaining to
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the child at the time the case is before the court for a final
review of the ordered disposition pursuant to Sectio n 2-2-503 of
this Title or at any time after an informal adjustment agreement has
been successfully completed pursuant to Section 2 -2-104 of this
title; provided:
1. The person or child has attained twenty-one (21) years of
age or older successfully completed the informal adjustment
agreement, the deferred adjudication, or a period of probation or
custody with a juvenile bureau or the Office of Juvenile Affairs and
the person's or child's case is being, or has been, dismissed by the
court or the court is c losing the case due to lack of jurisdiction
upon the person or child reaching the age of eighteen (18) years of
age or nineteen (19) years of age if jurisdiction of the court was
previously extended by the court pursuant to Section 2 -7-504 of this
Title;
2. The person or child has not been arrested for any adult
criminal offense and no charge, indictment, or information has been
filed or is pending against the person or child at the time of the
petition for an expungement;
3. The person has not been subje ct to any deferred prosecution
or deferred sentence, and has not been convicted of any criminal
offense; and
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4. All court costs, restitution, fines and other court -ordered
requirements have been completed for all the informal adjustment or
the juvenile proceedings.
4. After November 1, 2021, any person who has attained eighteen
(18) years of age or older and has successfully completed an
informal adjustment agreement, a deferred adjudication, or a period
of probation or custody with a juvenile bureau or t he Office of
Juvenile Affairs, and whose case has previously been dismissed may
petition the court for an order of expungement. In order to be
eligible for an order of expungement, the person must have satisfied
the requirements of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 o f subsection B of this
statute as set forth above.
5. a. For the purposes of this section, the term "expunge"
or "expungement" shall mean the sealing of juvenile
court records.
b. If a person's or child's adjudication, deferred
adjudication, or informal adjustment is being or has
been dismissed, then upon the receipt of an oral or
written petition of the person, the child, or other
authorized person, the court may, if the State does
not object, grant the expungement if the c ourt finds
that the harm to pri vacy of the person or the child in
interest or dangers of unwarranted adverse
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consequences outweigh the public interest in retaining
the records.
c. If the court grants the expungement , it shall issue a
written order to any law enforcement agency over whic h
the court has jurisdiction to expunge all files and
records pertaining to the arrest or adjudication of
the person or child and shall order the clerk of the
court to expunge the entire file and record of the
case, including docket sheets, index entries, court
records, summonses, warrants or records in the office
of the clerk or which have been produced by a law
enforcement agency in which the name of the person or
the child is mentioned. The court may order probation
officers and counselors of a juvenile bureau or the
Office of Juvenile Affairs to expunge all records,
reports and social and clinical studies relating to
the person or the child that are in the possession of
a Juvenile Bureau or the Office of Juvenile Affairs,
except when the documents are ne cessary to maintain
state or federal funding.
d. Members of the judiciary, district attorneys, the
person or the child, counsel for the person or the
child, employees of juvenile bureaus and the Office of
Juvenile Affairs who are assigned juvenile court
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intake responsibilities, and the Department of
Corrections may access records that have been expunged
pursuant to this subsection without a court order for
the purpose of determining whether to dismiss an
action, seek a voluntary probation, file a petition o r
information, or for purposes of sentencing or
placement in a case where the person who is the
subject of the sealed record is alleged to have
committed a subsequent juvenile delinquent act, a
youthful offender act, or any adult criminal offense.
Provided, any record sealed pursuant to this section
shall be ordered unsealed upon application of the
prosecuting agency when said records are requested for
use in any subsequent juvenil e delinquent, youthful
offender or adult prosecution.
B. C. If the State objected to oral or written petition for
expungement, the court shall allow the person or the child, or their
counsel, to file a written petition for the expungement of the
juvenile court records. Upon the filing of a petition for
expungement of a juvenile court record, the court shall set a date
for a hearing, which hearing may be closed at the court 's
discretion, and shall provide a thirty (30) days ' notice of the
hearing to the district attorney, the Office of Juvenile Affairs,
the Oklahoma State Bureau o f Investigation, and any other person or
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agency whom the court has reason to believe may have relevant
information related to the expungement of any record.
C. D. Upon a finding that the harm to privacy of the person in
interest or dangers of unwarranted adverse consequences outweigh the
public interest in retaining the records, the court may shall order
the records, or any part thereof except basic identification
information, to be expunged. If the court finds that neither
expungement of the records nor maintaining of the records unsealed
by the agency would serve the ends of justice, the court may enter
an appropriate order limiting access to the records. Any order
entered pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall specify
those agencies to whi ch the court order shall apply.
D. E. Upon the entry of an order to expunge any juvenile court
record, or any part thereof, the subject official actions shall be
deemed never to have occurred, and the person or the child in
interest and all juvenile and c riminal justice agencies may properly
reply, upon any inquiry in the matter, that no such action ever
occurred and that no such record exists with respect to the person
or the child.
E. Inspection of the records included in the order may
thereafter be permitted by the court only upon petition by the
person in interest who is the subject of the records, the Attorney
General, or by the district attorney and only to those persons and
for such purposes named in the petition.
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F. When an order of expungement i s issued by the court pursuant
to this Section, the court shall require the attorney for the person
or the child to prepare a written order of expungement which shall
be signed by the court and filed in the clerk 's office of the
district court in which the juvenile court record is located.
Copies of the order of expungement shall be provided or mailed to
the person or the child, as well as the parent(s), the legal
guardian(s) of the child, the prosecuting attorney, the law
enforcement agency or agencies th at investigated the case, the
detention or jail in which the person or the child was incarcerated,
the juvenile bureau, the Office of Juvenile Affairs, and the
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation directing the entity to
expunge (seal) the juvenile court records in its custody as directed
in the order.
F. G. Employers, educational institutions, landlords, state and
local government agencies, officials, and employees shall not, in
any application or interview or otherwise in any other way, require
an applicant to disclose any information contained in any expunged
juvenile court records. An applicant need not, in answer to any
question concerning arrest, juvenile and criminal records, provide
information that has been expunged, including any reference to o r
information concerning expungement and may state that no such action
has ever occurred. Such an application may not be denied solely
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because of the applicant 's refusal to disclose information that has
been expunged.
G. H. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize
the physical destruction of any juvenile records.
H. I. For the purposes of this section, expunged materials
which are recorded in the same document as unsealed material may be
recorded in a separate document, and sealed, then ob literated in the
original document.
I. J. For the purposes of this act, district court index
reference of sealed material shall be destroyed, removed or
obliterated.
J. K. Any record ordered to be expunged pursuant to this
section shall be sealed and, if not unsealed within ten (10) years
of the expungement order, may be obliterated or destroyed at the end
of the ten-year period.
K. L. Subsequent to records being sealed as provided herein,
the district attorney, the Office of Juvenile Affairs, the Oklaho ma
State Bureau of Investigation, or other interested person or agency
may petition the court for an order unsealing any records. Upon
filing of a petition, the court shall set a date for hearing, which
hearing may be closed at the court 's discretion, and shall provide
thirty (30) days' notice to all interested parties. If, upon
hearing, the court determines there has been a change of conditions
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or that there is a compelling reason to unseal the records, the
court may order all or a portion of the records unsealed.
L. M. Nothing herein shall prohibit the introduction of
evidence regarding actions sealed pursuant to the provisions of this
section at any hearing or trial for purposes of impeaching the
credibility of a witness or as evidence of character tes timony
pursuant to Section 2608 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
M. N. A person who has attained eighteen (18) years of age or
older may petition the district or municipal court in which the
juvenile court record is located for an order to expunge all or any
part of the record pertaining to matters involving truancy provided
the person has met the criteria set forth in paragraphs 2 1 through
4 3 of subsection A of this section. The petition shall be reviewed
by the district or municipal judge with pr imary responsibility over
the juvenile court docket.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2021.
58-1-7175 CMA 01/14/21