Expungement prevents a criminal record from permanently affecting a person’s future. Preventing certain information from showing up in criminal background checks can help those with prior criminal records improve their lives.
Educational opportunities, financial aid, rental housing and employment can all be difficult to secure when an individual cannot pass a criminal background check. Expungements allow people to expand their opportunities after having fulfilled their sentence and waited an appropriate amount of time.
Minors who committed juvenile offenses are among those who may want to prevent a prior offense from restricting their future opportunities. Does the state automatically expunge the criminal records of juvenile offenders when they become adults or complete their sentences?
Juvenile offenders must request expungement
In some states, expungement or record sealing is automatic for juvenile offenders. However, that is not a universal law. Indiana does not automatically expunge the records of juvenile arrests or convictions. Teenagers convicted of crimes before they become adults have to petition the courts just like adults must if they want to expunge the record of their prior conviction or official arrest records.
How long they have to wait to petition the courts depends on the nature of the offense and whether they want to expunge a conviction or records from an incident that did not lead to a conviction. Judges reviewing expungement petitions have to consider many factors, including whether or not they believe that the petitioning party has improved their circumstances and undergone sufficient rehabilitation.
Young adults who learned life lessons the hard way through prior criminal offenses may need support as they petition the courts for the expungement of their criminal records. Juvenile offenders who expunge records of their prior convictions can move into adulthood without a youthful offense limiting their opportunities.