Delaware General Assembly

Signed 8/22/11

The General Assembly has ended, the current status is the final status.

6/9/11

Barbieri

Sen. Blevins

Reps. Hudson, J. Johnson, Lavelle, Scott, Wilson
Sen. Ennis, Hall-Long, Venables

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EXPUNGEMENT.

This bill deals with the expungement of juvenile records of arrest and adjudications of delinquency and would become effective on January 1, 2012. Section 1015 sets out the procedure for filing an expungement petition and Section 1016 defines terms used in this subpart. Section 1017 sets out situations where the Family Court must grant an expungement petition: (1) Where a juvenile was charged with a misdemeanor and the charges were dismissed or not prosecuted or the child was acquitted and the child has no prior or subsequent adjudications/convictions and no charges pending; (2) Where juvenile charged with felony offense that was resolved via dismissal, non-prosecution, or acquittal and the child has no prior or subsequent adjudications/convictions and more than one year has passed since the case was resolved; (3) Where the juvenile has one adjudication of delinquency for any offense other than a violent felony or a sex offense, and the child has no subsequent or prior adjudications/convictions, and three years have passed since the adjudication was entered. The Attorney General’s office will not be notified of any petitions under this section. Section 1018 gives the court discretion to grant expungement in some cases if the Court finds that the continued existence and dissemination of information about the juvenile charges and/or adjudication would work a manifest injustice. The Attorney General’s Office is notified of these petitions and made a party to the case and has the opportunity to oppose the petition and/or appeal the Family Court’s decision. The circumstances when a petition for discretionary expungement may be presented are as follows: (1) Child is charged with felony offense and the case is terminated in favor of the child, provided the child has no prior or subsequent adjudications/convictions and less than one year has passed since the case was resolved; (2) Child has a single adjudication of delinquency for a misdemeanor sex offense, no prior or subsequent adjudications/convictions, and at least three years have passed since the adjudication of delinquency was entered; (3) Child has 2 adjudications of delinquency for misdemeanor offense, no prior or subsequent record and at least five years have passed since the second adjudication was entered in Family Court; (4) petitioner has one adjudication of delinquency for a violent felony or sex offense (except rape 1st or 2nd degree, robbery 1st degree or burglary 1st degree), no other record and more than five years have passed since the adjudication of delinquency was entered. Section 1019 provides that expunged records may be made available to law enforcement investigating criminal activity or where a person has applied for a job in law enforcement or to determine if a person is eligible to participate in a First Offenders, Probation Before Judgment, or other Court diversion program. It is otherwise unlawful to disclose the existence of an expunged record. Section 1020 provides for notice to the federal government of any expungement granted under the foregoing procedures.

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