The benefits associated with closing a juvenile conviction in California includes, but not limited to:

• Tell employers that you were not convicted of a crime
• Become eligible for some professional licenses
• Be relieved of offender registration
• Prosecutor cannot enhance a future charge
• Apply for a change in immigrant status more confidently
• Tell friends and family that you have not been convicted of a crime
• Stop fearing or being embarrassed when someone does a background check on you.

Code § 781. Sealing of records

(a) In any case in which a petition has been filed with a juvenile court to commence proceedings to adjudge a person a ward of the court, in any case in which a person is cited to appear before a probation officer or is taken before a probation officer pursuant to Section 626, or in any case in which a minor is taken before any officer of a law enforcement agency, the person or the county probation officer may, five years or more after the jurisdiction of the juvenile court has terminated as to the person, or, in a case in which no petition is filed, five years or more after the person was cited to appear before a probation officer or was taken before a probation officer pursuant to Section 626 or was taken before any officer of a law enforcement agency, or, in any case, at any time after the person has reached the age of 18 years, petition the court for sealing of the records, including records of arrest, relating to the person’s case, in the custody of the juvenile court and probation officer and any other agencies, including law enforcement agencies, and public officials as the petitioner alleges, in his or her petition, to have custody of the records. The court shall notify the district attorney of the county and the county probation officer, if he or she is not the petitioner, and the district attorney or probation officer or any of their deputies or any other person having relevant evidence may testify at the hearing on the petition. If, after hearing, the court finds that since the termination of jurisdiction or action pursuant to Section 626, as the case may be, he or she has not been convicted of a felony or of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude and that rehabilitation has been attained to the satisfaction of the court, it shall order all records, papers, and exhibits in the person’s case in the custody of the juvenile court sealed, including the juvenile court record, minute book entries, and entries on dockets, and any other records relating to the case in the custody of the other agencies and officials as are named in the order. In any case in which a ward of the juvenile court is subject to the registration requirements set forth in Section 290 of the Penal Code, a court, in ordering the sealing of the juvenile records of the person, also shall provide in the order that the person is relieved from the registration requirement and for the destruction of all registration information in the custody of the Department of Justice and other agencies and officials. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall not order the person’s records sealed in any case in which the person has been found by the juvenile court to have committed an offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707 when he or she had attained 14 years of age or older. Once the court has ordered the person’s records sealed, the proceedings in the case shall be deemed never to have occurred, and the person may properly reply accordingly to any inquiry about the events, the records of which are ordered sealed. The court shall send a copy of the order to each agency and official named therein, directing the agency to seal its records and stating the date thereafter to destroy the sealed records. Each such agency and official shall seal the records in its custody as directed by the order, shall advise the court of its compliance, and thereupon shall seal the copy of the court’s order for sealing of records that it, he, or she received. The person who is the subject of records sealed pursuant to this section may petition the superior court to permit inspection of the records by persons named in the petition, and the superior court may so order. Otherwise, except as provided in subdivision (b), the records shall not be open to inspection.

(b) In any action or proceeding based upon defamation, a court, upon a showing of good cause, may order any records sealed under this section to be opened and admitted into evidence. The records shall be confidential and shall be available for inspection only by the court, jury, parties, counsel for the parties, and any other person who is authorized by the court to inspect them. Upon the judgment in the action or proceeding becoming final, the court shall order the records sealed.

(c)

(1) Subdivision (a) does not apply to Department of Motor Vehicle records of any convictions for offenses under the Vehicle Code or any local ordinance relating to the operation, stopping and standing, or parking of a vehicle where the record of any such conviction would be a public record under Section 1808 of the Vehicle Code. However, if a court orders a case record containing any such conviction to be sealed under this section, and if the Department of Motor Vehicles maintains a public record of such a conviction, the court shall notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of the sealing and the department shall advise the court of its receipt of the notice.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, subsequent to the notification, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall allow access to its record of convictions only to the subject of the record and to insurers which have been granted requestor code numbers by the department. Any insurer to which such a record of conviction is disclosed, when such a conviction record has otherwise been sealed under this section, shall be given notice of the sealing when the record is disclosed to the insurer. The insurer may use the information contained in the record for purposes of determining eligibility for insurance and insurance rates for the subject of the record, and the information shall not be used for any other purpose nor shall it be disclosed by an insurer to any person or party not having access to the record.

(2) This subdivision shall not be construed as preventing the sealing of any record which is maintained by any agency or party other than the Department of Motor Vehicles.

(3) This subdivision shall not be construed as affecting the procedures or authority of the Department of Motor Vehicles for purging department records.

(d) Unless for good cause the court determines that the juvenile court record shall be retained, the court shall order the destruction of a person’s juvenile court records that are sealed pursuant to this section as follows: five years after the record was ordered sealed, if the person who is the subject of the record was alleged or adjudged to be a person described by Section 601; or when the person who is the subject of the record reaches the age of 38 if the person was alleged or adjudged to be a person described by Section 602, except that if the subject of the record was found to be a person described in Section 602 because of the commission of an offense listed in subdivision (b), of Section 707, when he or she was 14 years of age or older, the record shall not be destroyed. Any other agency in possession of sealed records may destroy its records five years after the record was ordered sealed.

(e) This section shall not permit the sealing of a person’s juvenile court records for an offense where the person is convicted of that offense in a criminal court pursuant to the provisions of Section 707.1. This subdivision is declaratory of existing law.

§ 1772 Setting Aside the Verdict

(a) Subject to subdivision (b), every person honorably discharged from control by the Youth Authority Board who has not, during the period of control by the authority, been placed by the authority in a state prison shall thereafter be released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense or crime for which he or she was committed, and every person discharged may petition the court which committed him or her, and the court may upon that petition set aside the verdict of guilty and dismiss the accusation or information against the petitioner who shall thereafter be released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense or crime for which he or she was committed, including, but not limited to, any disqualification for any employment or occupational license, or both, created by any other provision of law.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a):

(1) A person described by subdivision (a) shall not be eligible for appointment as a peace officer employed by any public agency if his or her appointment would otherwise be prohibited by Section 1029 of the Government Code. However, that person may be appointed and employed as a peace officer by the Department of the Youth Authority if (A) at least five years have passed since his or her honorable discharge, and the person has had no misdemeanor or felony convictions except for traffic misdemeanors since he or she was honorably discharged by the Youth Authority Board, or (B) the person was employed as a peace officer by the Department of the Youth Authority on or before January 1, 1983. No person who is under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Youth Authority shall be admitted to an examination for a peace officer position with the department unless and until the person has been honorably discharged from the jurisdiction of the Youth Authority Board.

(2) A person described by subdivision (a) is subject to Sections 12021 and 12021.1 of the Penal Code.

(3) The conviction of a person described by subdivision (a) for an offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707 is admissible in a subsequent criminal, juvenile, or civil proceeding if otherwise admissible, if all the following are true:

(A) The person was 16 years of age or older at the time he or she committed the offense.

(B) The person was found unfit to be dealt with under the juvenile court law pursuant to Section 707 because he or she was alleged to have committed an offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707.

(C) The person was tried as an adult and convicted of an offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707.

(D) The person was committed to the Department of the Youth Authority for the offense referred to in subparagraph (C).

(4) The conviction of a person described by subdivision (a) may be used to enhance the punishment for a subsequent offense.

(5) The conviction of a person who is 18 years of age or older at the time he or she committed the offense is admissible in a subsequent civil, criminal, or juvenile proceeding, if otherwise admissible pursuant to law.

(c) Every person discharged from control by the Youth Authority Board shall be informed of the provisions of this section in writing at the time of discharge.

(d) “Honorably discharged” as used in this section means and includes every person whose discharge is based upon a good record on parole.

§ 626. Alternative procedures as to disposition of minor; Governing consideration in selecting alternative

An officer who takes a minor into temporary custody under the provisions of Section 625 may do any of the following:

(a) Release the minor.

(b) Deliver or refer the minor to a public or private agency with which the city or county has an agreement or plan to provide shelter care, counseling, or diversion services to minors so delivered.

(c) Prepare in duplicate a written notice to appear before the probation officer of the county in which the minor was taken into custody at a time and place specified in the notice. The notice shall also contain a concise statement of the reasons the minor was taken into custody. The officer shall deliver one copy of the notice to the minor or to a parent, guardian, or responsible relative of the minor and may require the minor or the minor’s parent, guardian, or relative, or both, to sign a written promise to appear at the time and place designated in the notice. Upon the execution of the promise to appear, the officer shall immediately release the minor. The officer shall, as soon as practicable, file one copy of the notice with the probation officer. The written notice to appear may require that the minor be fingerprinted, photographed, or both, upon the minor’s appearance before the probation officer, if the minor is a person described in Section 602 and he or she was taken into custody upon reasonable cause for the commission of a felony.

(d) Take the minor without unnecessary delay before the probation officer of the county in which the minor was taken into custody, or in which the minor resides, or in which the acts take place or the circumstances exist which are alleged to bring the minor within the provisions of Section 601 or 602, and deliver the custody of the minor to the probation officer. The peace officer shall prepare a concise written statement of the probable cause for taking the minor into temporary custody and the reasons the minor was taken into custody and shall provide the statement to the probation officer at the time the minor is delivered to the probation officer. In no case shall the officer delay the delivery of the minor to the probation officer for more than 24 hours if the minor has been taken into custody without a warrant on the belief that the minor has committed a misdemeanor.

In determining which disposition of the minor to make, the officer shall prefer the alternative which least restricts the minor’s freedom of movement, provided that alternative is compatible with the best interests of the minor and the community.

In order to qualify for California juvenile expungement, you must have been under the age of eighteen (18) at the time of commission of a misdemeanor. You may petition the court for an order sealing the record of conviction and other official records in the case, including records of arrests resulting in the criminal proceeding and records relating to other offenses charged in the accusatory pleading, whether defendant was acquitted or charges were dismissed.