Juvenile FAQs

How can I find out if I have a Juvenile Court file, and then access it?

If you live in or near San Jose: To find out about your juvenile dependency file (and whether you have one), you must go to the Juvenile Dependency Clerk's Office (in the  Family Justice Center Courthouse ) in person with a picture ID. To get information about your Juvenile Justice file (and find out if you have one), you must go to the Juvenile Justice Clerk's Office at the  Juvenile Justice Courthouse  in person with a picture ID.

If you live out of town: You may send in a written request with your signature notarized, a copy of your drivers license and a self-addressed, stamped envelope. The fee for copies is .50 per page. Certification is $15.00 per document. If a search needs to be done, the fee for a name search is $15.00 for searches that take longer than 10 minutes.

If you aren't sure the number of pages to be copied, you can enclose a check stating "Not to exceed $________" and we will fill in the correct amount and send you a receipt with your copies. Use the mailing address on the  Family Justice Center Courthouse  page for Dependency requests and the mailing address on the  Juvenile Justice Courthouse  page for Juvenile Justice requests..

If you are not a party in the juvenile case and want to see Juvenile Court records you have to ask (or “petition’) the Juvenile Court for permission. Use  State Form JV 570  to write your petition. You have to file it with the Clerk’s office after 10 court days from when it was served (see the first paragraph above to determine which Clerk's office is appropriate). You may also need some of these forms:  JV-569  ,  JV-571  ,  JV-572  ,  JV-573  and  JV-574  .

Also see the section on this website,  "Can other people see a minor’s records or go to the hearing?"

What are Juvenile Court records?

Juvenile Court records are:

  • The records in the Dependency Court legal file,
  • The social worker’s records, and
  • The Department of Family and Children’s Services’ records.

In general, the records don’t have:

  • Police reports,
  • Medical records,
  • Mental health records,
  • Conversations between the lawyer and the social worker, or
  • Records that other agencies keep.

All information concerning juvenile cases is confidential.

You can either contact your Social Worker, Attorney, or come to the Juvenile Dependency Clerk's Office in person with a picture ID. The Clerk's Office is located at the  Family Justice Center Courthouse  in downtown San Jose.

See the  Juvenile Dependency Participants page  for the answer to this question.

See information about the Juvenile Justice process on the  Juvenile Justice Hearings  page.

To seal the records of your case, you may either:

  • come to Juvenile Probation in the  Juvenile Justice Courthouse , or
  • call the Santa Clara County Probation Department at 408-278-6121

to obtain a  Juvenile Record Sealing Application and instruction sheet  . There is a processing fee of $120.00, payable to the County Probation Department.

Generally the process takes five to six months because of the investigation process that must be done.

For additional information, please visit the  Santa Clara County Juvenile Probation Department's website .

Effective January 2017, Adult Traffic Court handles juvenile traffic infractions. For further information, visit our  Self-Help Traffic page .

Juvenile Probation Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) may informally resolve all non traffic infractions and misdemeanor cases that do not involve alcohol, domestic violence or restitution over $1,000.

This is a diversion program for low level offenders designed to keep your child out to the Juvenile Court system. This program enables your child to have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and receive services from community based organizations. For further information, visit our  Community Programs page .

Phone: (408) 278-5840

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