NOTICE REGARDING SEALING AND EXPUNGEMENT OF RECORDS

Because you were charged with an offense as a juvenile, Ohio Law may allow you to have your juvenile record sealed or expunged. The following is an explanation of the process that you must follow to seal or expunge your record.

1. You may apply to this Juvenile Court for an order to seal your record six (6) months after:
   1. Termination of any order made by the Court in relation to adjudication or,
   2. Unconditional discharge from DYS /Other facility in relation to dispositional order.
   3. The Court enters sex offender declassification order.
2. “Seal a record” means to have your juvenile file removed from the Court’s main sector of records and placed in a separate location that is accessible only by Juvenile Court, law enforcement, and Prosecutors.
3. Applying to seal your record doesn’t automatically mean that it will be sealed. The Juvenile Court must find:
   1. That you have been rehabilitated to a satisfactory degree.
   2. That the Prosecutor doesn’t object.
4. If the Prosecutor objects or the Court finds it necessary, a hearing will be held.
5. If your offense was aggravated murder, murder, or rape your record cannot be sealed.
6. 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 will also reply that no record exists. It is as if the proceedings never occurred.
7. After your record has been sealed, your record will automatically be expunged after a period of five (5) years or when you reach age 23; whichever occurs sooner. You may apply to the Juvenile Court to have your sealed record expunged sooner.
8. How is “expunging” a record different from “sealing a record? “Expunge a record” means to destroy, delete, and erase a record, as appropriate for the record’s physical or electronic form or characteristic. This means that the record is permanently irretrievable and destroyed.
9. You may obtain an application to either seal or expunge your record from the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office at Fairfield County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, 224 E. Main Street – Third Floor, Lancaster, Ohio 43130 or online at www.fairfieldcountyprobate.com. That is also the location to file the application after you have completed filling it out.
10. You may wish to read portions of the Ohio Revised Code, § 2151.355; 2151.356; 2151.357 and 2151.358 for further details, available at most libraries and on the internet.