SB 1161 Summary

• Prohibits defense counsel for minors from being ordered to seal their records, and allows persons to petition for record sealing if their felony or misdemeanor convictions have been dismissed, vacated, pardoned, or reduced to non-moral turpitude misdemeanors.

• Expands eligibility for record sealing to include persons cited or arrested for felonies (not just misdemeanors) and requires probation departments, the Department of Justice, and law enforcement to seal records when prosecutors decline to initiate proceedings within the statute of limitations.

• Authorizes attorneys representing persons subject to juvenile proceedings to inspect juvenile case files and expands the definition of "juvenile case file" to include all writings and electronically stored information relating to the minor.

• Allows juvenile courts to transfer jurisdiction, terminate jurisdiction, or seal records while an appeal is pending without affecting appellate court jurisdiction, and specifies that if remanded, the matter returns to the court that last exercised jurisdiction.

• Extends transition jurisdiction rights to minors or nonminors whose adjudications were vacated on appeal or under Penal Code Section 236.14, and allows nonminors to petition for reentry despite dismissed underlying adjudications.