18 USC 5038: Juvenile arrest records

            
 
          Sec. 5038. Use of juvenile records

    (a) Throughout and upon the completion of the juvenile delinquency 
proceeding, the records shall be safeguarded from disclosure to 
unauthorized persons. The records shall be released to the extent 
necessary to meet the following circumstances:
        (1) inquiries received from another court of law;
        (2) inquiries from an agency preparing a presentence report for 
    another court;
        (3) inquiries from law enforcement agencies where the request 
    for information is related to the investigation of a crime or a 
    position within that agency;
        (4) inquiries, in writing, from the director of a treatment 
    agency or the director of a facility to which the juvenile has been 
    committed by the court;
        (5) inquiries from an agency considering the person for a 
    position immediately and directly affecting the national security; 
    and
        (6) inquiries from any victim of such juvenile delinquency, or 
    if the victim is deceased from the immediate family of such victim, 
    related to the final disposition of such juvenile by the court in 
    accordance with section 5037.

Unless otherwise authorized by this section, information about the 
juvenile record may not be released when the request for information is 
related to an application for employment, license, bonding, or any civil 
right or privilege. Responses to such inquiries shall not be different 
from responses made about persons who have never been involved in a 
delinquency proceeding.
    (b) District courts exercising jurisdiction over any juvenile shall 
inform the juvenile, and his parent or guardian, in writing in clear and 
nontechnical language, of rights relating to his juvenile record.
    (c) During the course of any juvenile delinquency proceeding, all 
information and records relating to the proceeding, which are obtained 
or prepared in the discharge of an official duty by an employee of the 
court or an employee of
any other governmental agency, shall not be disclosed directly or 
indirectly to anyone other than the judge, counsel for the juvenile and 
the Government, or others entitled under this section to receive 
juvenile records.
    (d) Whenever a juvenile is found guilty of committing an act which 
if committed by an adult would be a felony that is a crime of violence 
or an offense described in section 401 of the Controlled Substances Act 
or section 1001(a), 1005, or 1009 of the Controlled Substances Import 
and Export Act, such juvenile shall be fingerprinted and photographed. 
Except a juvenile described in subsection (f), fingerprints and 
photographs of a juvenile who is not prosecuted as an adult shall be 
made available only in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) 
of this section. Fingerprints and photographs of a juvenile who is 
prosecuted as an adult shall be made available in the manner applicable 
to adult defendants.
    (e) Unless a juvenile who is taken into custody is prosecuted as an 
adult neither the name nor picture of any juvenile shall be made public 
in connection with a juvenile delinquency proceeding.
    (f) Whenever a juvenile has on two separate occasions been found 
guilty of committing an act which if committed by an adult would be a 
felony crime of violence or an offense described in section 401 of the 
Controlled Substances Act or section 1001(a), 1005, or 1009 of the 
Controlled Substances Import and Export Act, or whenever a juvenile has 
been found guilty of committing an act after his 13th birthday which if 
committed by an adult would be an offense described in the second 
sentence of the fourth paragraph of section 5032 of this title, the 
court shall transmit to the Federal Bureau of Investigation the 
information concerning the adjudications, including name, date of 
adjudication, court, offenses, and sentence, along with the notation 
that the matters were juvenile adjudications.

(Added Pub. L. 93-415, title V, Sec. 508, Sept. 7, 1974, 88 Stat. 1137; 
amended Pub. L. 95-115, Sec. 8(b), Oct. 3, 1977, 91 Stat. 1060; Pub. L. 
98-473, title II, Sec. 1202, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2150; Pub. L. 103-
322, title XIV, Sec. 140005, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2032; Pub. L. 
104-294, title VI, Sec. 601(f)(16), (o), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3500, 
3502.)

                       References in Text

    Section 401 of the Controlled Substances Act, referred to in 
subsecs. (d) and (f), is classified to section 841 of Title 21, Food and 
Drugs.
    Sections 1001(a), 1005, or 1009 of the Controlled Substances Import 
and Export Act, referred to in subsecs. (d) and (f), are classified to 
sections 951(a), 955, and 959, respectively, of Title 21.
                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104-294, Sec. 601(f)(16), substituted 
``section 401 of the Controlled Substances Act or section 1001(a), 1005, 
or 1009 of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act'' for 
``section 841, 952(a), 955, or 959 of title 21''.
    Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 104-294 substituted ``section 401 of the 
Controlled Substances Act or section 1001(a), 1005, or 1009 of the 
Controlled Substances Import and Export Act'' for ``section 841, 952(a), 
955, or 959 of title 21'', ``juvenile has been found guilty'' for 
``juvenille has been found guilty'', and ``the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation'' for ``the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
Identification Division,''.
    1994--Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 103-322 inserted ``or whenever a 
juvenille has been found guilty of committing an act after his 13th 
birthday which if committed by an adult would be an offense described in 
the second sentence of the fourth paragraph of section 5032 of this 
title,'' after ``title 21,''.
    1984--Pub. L. 98-473 amended section generally, striking out in 
subsec. (a) provisions that, upon completion of any delinquency 
proceedings the court shall order the entire record and file to be 
sealed, substituting a new subsec. (d) for a former subsec. (d) which 
provided that unless a juvenile is prosecuted as an adult neither 
fingerprints nor photographs shall be taken without the consent of the 
judge and the juveniles name and picture shall not be made available to 
any public medium of communication and adding subsecs. (e) and (f).
    1977--Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 95-115 added par. (6).
                    Effective Date of 1977 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 95-115 effective Oct. 1, 1977, see section 
263(c) of Pub. L. 93-415, as added by Pub. L. 95-115, set out as a note 
under section 5601 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.