Process for Expunging or Sealing Juvenile Records in Ohio

UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021

Advertiser Disclosure

It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021Fact Checked

Get Legal Help Today

Find the right lawyer for your legal issue.

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption

Jeffrey Johnson

Insurance Lawyer

Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

Insurance Lawyer

UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021

Advertiser Disclosure

It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021

Advertiser Disclosure

It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021Fact Checked

Sealing and expunging juvenile records in Ohio is a simpler process than seeking adult criminal record expungement. Sealing and expungement of juvenile records in Ohio differs from adult records in that, while the terms are synonymous in the case of adult convictions, sealing and expungement of juvenile records are two different things.

For more on the process for sealing juvenile records, see our article Sealing Juvenile Criminal Records in Ohio. Once your juvenile record has been sealed, the record will also be completely expunged five years after the sealing order is issued, or when the individual turns 23, whichever comes first. Expungement in this context means that not even courts or law enforcement personnel will be able to use your sealed record in the future for purposes like sentencing or counting prior convictions. This differs from sealing and expungement for adults, whose records will always be accessible to courts and law enforcement for those purposes.

You can also file an application for an expungement of your juvenile records before you turn 23 or five years have elapsed. For more on the application process, see Sealing Juvenile Criminal Records in Ohio.

Once a sealing order is made by the court, and expungement of your juvenile records is the next step, you have one other consideration to make: whether or not to sign a waiver releasing your right to sue for issues contained in the expunged records. If you want your record expunged promptly, you probably need to waive the right to sue immediately; otherwise, the court will keep a sealed copy of your records until the time to sue has passed. This amount of time will vary drastically depending on the statutes of limitation associated with the particular crime. You may want to consider using the services of an experienced Ohio criminal attorney to help guide you through this process.

For more information on Ohio expungements, see the following articles:

Overview of Ohio Criminal Record Expungements

Eligibility for Expunging and Sealing Adult Criminal Records in Ohio

Process for Expunging or Sealing Criminal Adult Records in Ohio

Sealing Juvenile Criminal Records in Ohio

Do I Need an Attorney to Expunge or Seal my Criminal Record in Ohio?

Get Legal Help Today

Find the right lawyer for your legal issue.

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption

Jeffrey Johnson

Insurance Lawyer

Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

Insurance Lawyer

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

Get Legal Help Today

Find the right lawyer for your legal issue.

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption