County News

Details

Published: Friday, 04 April 2014 17:29

Forms/Information

• Application to Seal Record(s)
• Request to View Sealed Record
• Application to Expunge Record(s)

Ohio law allows you to request to have your juvenile record sealed or expunged (or both).  The following is an explanation of the process to seal or expunge your record.

1. If you are under eighteen (18) years of age, you may apply to the Court for an order to seal your record six (6) months after any order made by the Court has ended.
2. If you are eighteen (18) years of age or older, you may apply to the Court for an order to seal your record at any time after any order made by the Court has ended.
3. "Sealing" means to remove a record from the main file of similar records and to secure it in a separate file that contains only sealed records accessible only by Juvenile Court staff.
4. Requesting to seal your record does not automatically mean that it will be sealed.  The Juvenile Court must find that you have been rehabilitated to a satisfactory degree.  If your offense was Aggravated Murder, Murder or Rape, your record cannot be sealed.
5. If your record is sealed by the Juvenile Court and someone asks you if you have a record, you may properly reply that "no record exists".  If asked, the Court may also reply that no record exists.
6. After your record has been sealed, your record will automatically be expunged after a period of five (5) years OR when you reach the age of twenty-three (23), whichever occurs sooner.  You may apply to the Juvenile Court to have your sealed record expunged sooner.
7. "Expunging" means to destroy, delete, and erase a record.  This means that the record is permanently irretrievable.  If your record is expunged and you are asked if you have a record, you may properly reply that "no record exists."  If asked, the Court will also reply that no record exists.
8. You may obtain an application to seal or expunge your record from the Juvenile Court Clerk's Office in the Courthouse, 1 E. Jackson Street, Suite 202, Millersburg, OH or at one of the above links.  The application will need to be filed in the Clerk's Office after you have completed filling it out.  There is no cost for either procedure.

RIGHT TO APPEAL

Appeal of Final Order or Judgment:  You have the right to appeal if any portion of your case was contested.  You do so by filing a Notice of Appeal in the Juvenile Court Clerk's Office within thirty (30) days of the final order or judgment.