NCJ Number
185552
Date Published
September 1995
Length
2 pages
Annotation
A review of State laws as of December 1994 found virtually all States have enacted legislation requiring pre-sentence reports to include prior juvenile records but there is great diversity among States with regard to legislated provisions for the collection of information such as fingerprints, access to juvenile records, and juvenile record retention.
Abstract
Forty States explicitly authorize the police to fingerprint arrested juveniles, while only 2 States prohibit the fingerprinting of juveniles. Yet, even where authorized, the fingerprinting of juveniles has restrictions; 16 States have a minimum age, and 22 States limit the fingerprinting of juveniles to those arrested for acts that would be felonies if committed by an adult. Twenty-seven States have enacted laws authorizing a central repository for juvenile arrest records, while 5 States forbid central record-keeping and 5 States authorize central record-keeping of fingerprints but not juvenile histories. With respect to criminal court access, 24 States mandate consideration of a defendant's juvenile records in sentencing. This ranges from including the juvenile record in calculating criminal history scores under sentencing guidelines to considering the juvenile record in making decisions about probation rather than incarceration. Other aspects of State laws have indirect effects on juvenile record availability in terms of jurisdiction and waiver issues and juvenile record destruction.