Related to juvenile records, the court shall hold regular sealing hearings. During these hearings, the court will administratively seal an individual’s juvenile record pursuant to the requirements of this subsection unless the court receives an objection or the court notes a compelling reason not to seal, in which case, the court shall set a contested hearing to be conducted on the record to address sealing.
Although the juvenile record shall be sealed, the social file may remain available to any juvenile justice or care agency when an investigation or case involving the juvenile subject
A contested hearing would be set no sooner than 18 after notice of the hearing and the opportunity to object has been sent to the juvenile, the victim, and juvenile’s attorney. The juvenile respondent’s presence is not required at a sealing hearing.
SB6444 also amends existing WAC such that the Washington State Patrol shall ensure that the Washington state identification system does not provide criminal justice agencies access to sealed juvenile records information. By October 1, 2020, the Washington state patrol will remove all sealed juvenile records from the Washington state identification system and any other system it maintains.
