Marion County Juvenile DepartmentExpunction Information
What Is An Expunction?The expunction process eliminates records of your contact with the police agencies and the Marion County Juvenile Department. If the court approves your application, police agencies, the department and the court are required to remove your record. In addition, if people ask the department about your record, the department must tell them that you do not have one. The court will give you a copy of the expunction order and a list of the agencies that have complied with that order. Once you receive that order, you are legally permitted to say the juvenile record never existed and the contact never occurred.
How Do I Qualify For Expunction?In order to qualify for expunction, you must meet the following criteria:
i. Five years have passed since your most recent termination; ii. Since termination, you have not been convicted of a new crime; iii. You are not the subject of a pending juvenile or criminal court proceeding; iv. You are not currently within the jurisdiction of any juvenile court; and, v. You are not the subject of a pending police criminal investigation.
i. Five years have passed since your most recent termination;
ii. Since termination, you have not been convicted of a new crime;
iii. You are not the subject of a pending juvenile or criminal court proceeding;
iv. You are not currently within the jurisdiction of any juvenile court; and,
v. You are not the subject of a pending police criminal investigation.
How Do I Apply For Expunction?You may submit an application to the court that most recently handled your case. The application form is available at the Juvenile Department and there is no fee to apply.
If the DA does not think that you qualify for expunction, the DA will tell the court that they object to your application. The DA will send you a copy of that objection. Even though the DA objects, you have the right to request a hearing in front of a judge. At the hearing you have the right to have an attorney represent you. If you cannot afford to hire your own attorney, you have the right to have an attorney appointed for you by the court.
What Do These Terms Mean?
Contact – when you act in a way that a court could find you within its jurisdiction. This is normally when the police speak with you about something that you did that could be against the law.
Crime – only as used here, the term crime means a felony or Class A misdemeanor
Jurisdiction – when a judge decides that you did something that would have been a crime if you were an adult, you are found to be “within the jurisdiction of the court.” This is similar to the adult term “conviction.” In juvenile justice, this normally means you were placed on probation through the juvenile department or committed to the Oregon Youth Authority.
Never within the jurisdiction – even though you had contact with police or the juvenile department, you were never found in jurisdiction. This normally occurs when you attend peer court, go through diversion, are on informal probation, or the charges against you are either never filed or were dropped.
Termination – after you are found in jurisdiction and either the maximum time period elapses or your probation officer asks for your case to be closed, the court can order your jurisdiction terminated. This is usually when you finish probation or parole. Your most recent termination is when you last finished probation or parole. The juvenile department can help you determine this date.
LEGAL NOTE:
This page is for informational purpose only and not intended to be legal advice. If you want legal advice regarding your expunction, you should contact your own attorney or ask the court to appoint an attorney for you.