However, if a hearing was closed,the judge may order that certain records or portions thereof remainconfidential to the extent necessary to protect any juvenile victim orjuvenile witness.Ĭ. If a juvenile 14 years of age or older at the time of the offense isadjudicated delinquent on the basis of an act which would be a felony ifcommitted by an adult, all court records regarding that adjudication and anysubsequent adjudication of delinquency, other than those records specified insubsection A, shall be open to the public. All or any part of the records enumerated in subsection A, or informationsecured from such records, which is presented to the judge in court orotherwise in a proceeding under this law shall also be made available to theparties to the proceedings and their attorneys.ī1.
The copiesshall remain confidential, but reports may be prepared using the informationcontained therein as provided in 19.2-298.01 and 19.2-299.ī. Any attorney for the Commonwealth and any local pretrial services orcommunity-based probation officer or state adult probation or parole officershall have direct access to the defendant's juvenile court delinquencyrecords maintained in an electronic format by the court for the strictlylimited purposes of preparing a pretrial investigation report, including anyrelated risk assessment instrument, any presentence report, any discretionarysentencing guidelines worksheets, including related risk assessmentinstruments, any post-sentence investigation report or preparing for anytransfer or sentencing hearing.Ī copy of the court order of disposition in a delinquency case shall beprovided to a probation officer or attorney for the Commonwealth, whenrequested for the purpose of calculating sentencing guidelines.
However, for thepurposes of an investigation conducted by a local community-based probationagency, preparation of a pretrial investigation report, or of a presentenceor postsentence report upon a finding of guilty in a circuit court or for thepreparation of a background report for the Parole Board, adult probation andparole officers, including United States Probation and Pretrial ServicesOfficers, any officer of a local pretrial services agency established oroperated pursuant to Article 5 ( 19.2-152.2 et seq.) of Chapter 9 of Title19.2, and any officer of a local community-based probation programestablished or operated pursuant to the Comprehensive Community CorrectionsAct for Local-Responsible Offenders ( 9.1-173 et seq.) shall have access toan accused's or inmate's records in juvenile court without a court order andfor the purpose of preparing the discretionary sentencing guidelinesworksheets and related risk assessment instruments as directed by the courtpursuant to subsection C of 19.2-298.01, the attorney for the Commonwealthand any pretrial services or probation officer shall have access to thedefendant's records in juvenile court without a court order ĥ. Any other person, agency or institution, by order of the court, having alegitimate interest in the case or in the work of the court. The attorney for any party, including the attorney for the Commonwealth Ĥ. Representatives of a public or private agency or department providingsupervision or having legal custody of the child or furnishing evaluation ortreatment of the child ordered or requested by the court ģ.
The judge, probation officers and professional staff assigned to serve thejuvenile and domestic relations district courts Ģ.
All juvenile case files shallbe filed separately from adult files and records of the court and shall beopen for inspection only to the following:ġ. Social, medical and psychiatric or psychological records, includingreports or preliminary inquiries, predisposition studies and supervisionrecords, of neglected and abused children, children in need of services,children in need of supervision and delinquent children shall be filed withthe other papers in the juvenile's case file.
2006 Code of Virginia § 16.1-305 - Confidentiality of court recordsġ6.1-305.