16.1-306 - Expungement of court records.
§ 16.1-306. Expungement of court records.
A. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 16.1-69.55, the clerk of the juvenileand domestic relations district court shall, on January 2 of each year or ona date designated by the court, destroy its files, papers and records,including electronic records, connected with any proceeding concerning ajuvenile in such court, if such juvenile has attained the age of 19 years andfive years have elapsed since the date of the last hearing in any case of thejuvenile which is subject to this section. However, if the juvenile was foundguilty of an offense for which the clerk is required by § 46.2-383 to furnishan abstract to the Department of Motor Vehicles, the records shall bedestroyed when the juvenile has attained the age of 29. If the juvenile wasfound guilty of a delinquent act which would be a felony if committed by anadult, the records shall be retained.
B. In all files in which the court records concerning a juvenile contain afinding of guilty of a delinquent act which would be a felony if committed byan adult or an offense for which the clerk is required by § 46.2-383 tofurnish an abstract to the Department of Motor Vehicles together withfindings of not innocent of other acts, all of the records of such juvenilesubject to this section shall be retained and available for inspection asprovided in § 16.1-305.
C. A person who has been the subject of a delinquency or traffic proceedingand (i) has been found innocent thereof or (ii) such proceeding was otherwisedismissed, may file a motion requesting the destruction of all recordspertaining to the charge of such an act of delinquency. Notice of such motionshall be given to the attorney for the Commonwealth. Unless good cause isshown why such records should not be destroyed, the court shall grant themotion, and shall send copies of the order to all officers or agencies thatare repositories of such records, and all such officers and agencies shallcomply with the order.
D. Each person shall be notified of his rights under subsections A and C ofthis section at the time of his dispositional hearing.
E. Upon destruction of the records of a proceeding as provided in subsectionsA, B, and C, the violation of law shall be treated as if it never occurred.All index references shall be deleted and the court and law-enforcementofficers and agencies shall reply and the person may reply to any inquirythat no record exists with respect to such person.
F. All docket sheets shall be destroyed in the sixth year after the lasthearing date recorded on the docket sheet.
(Code 1950, § 16.1-193; 1956, c. 555; 1977, c. 559; 1979, cc. 736, 737; 1989,c. 183; 1990, c. 258; 1993, cc. 468, 589, 926; 1994, cc. 859, 949; 1996, c.463; 2008, c. 519.)