211.321. Juvenile court records, confidentiality, exceptions--records of peace officers, exceptions, release of certain information to victim. - Missouri Statutes

Juvenile court records, confidentiality, exceptions--records ofpeace officers, exceptions, release of certain information tovictim.

211.321. 1. Records of juvenile court proceedings as well as allinformation obtained and social records prepared in the discharge ofofficial duty for the court shall not be open to inspection or theircontents disclosed, except by order of the court to persons having alegitimate interest therein, unless a petition or motion to modify issustained which charges the child with an offense which, if committed by anadult, would be a class A felony under the criminal code of Missouri, orcapital murder, first degree murder, or second degree murder or except asprovided in subsection 2 of this section. In addition, whenever a reportis required under section 557.026, RSMo, there shall also be included acomplete list of certain violations of the juvenile code for which thedefendant had been adjudicated a delinquent while a juvenile. This listshall be made available to the probation officer and shall be included inthe presentence report. The violations to be included in the report arelimited to the following: rape, sodomy, murder, kidnapping, robbery,arson, burglary or any acts involving the rendering or threat of seriousbodily harm. The supreme court may promulgate rules to be followed by thejuvenile courts in separating the records.

2. In all proceedings under subdivision (2) of subsection 1 ofsection 211.031, the records of the juvenile court as well as allinformation obtained and social records prepared in the discharge ofofficial duty for the court shall be kept confidential and shall be open toinspection only by order of the judge of the juvenile court or as otherwiseprovided by statute. In all proceedings under subdivision (3) ofsubsection 1 of section 211.031 the records of the juvenile court as wellas all information obtained and social records prepared in the discharge ofofficial duty for the court shall be kept confidential and may be open toinspection without court order only as follows:

(1) The juvenile officer is authorized at any time:

(a) To provide information to or discuss matters concerning thechild, the violation of law or the case with the victim, witnesses,officials at the child's school, law enforcement officials, prosecutingattorneys, any person or agency having or proposed to have legal or actualcare, custody or control of the child, or any person or agency providing orproposed to provide treatment of the child. Information received pursuantto this paragraph shall not be released to the general public, but shall bereleased only to the persons or agencies listed in this paragraph;

(b) To make public information concerning the offense, the substanceof the petition, the status of proceedings in the juvenile court and anyother information which does not specifically identify the child or thechild's family;

(2) After a child has been adjudicated delinquent pursuant tosubdivision (3) of subsection 1 of section 211.031, for an offense whichwould be a felony if committed by an adult, the records of thedispositional hearing and proceedings related thereto shall be open to thepublic to the same extent that records of criminal proceedings are open tothe public. However, the social summaries, investigations or updates inthe nature of presentence investigations, and status reports submitted tothe court by any treating agency or individual after the dispositionalorder is entered shall be kept confidential and shall be opened toinspection only by order of the judge of the juvenile court;

(3) As otherwise provided by statute;

(4) In all other instances, only by order of the judge of thejuvenile court.

3. Peace officers' records, if any are kept, of children shall bekept separate from the records of persons seventeen years of age or overand shall not be open to inspection or their contents disclosed, except byorder of the court. This subsection does not apply to children who aretransferred to courts of general jurisdiction as provided by section211.071 or to juveniles convicted under the provisions of sections 578.421to 578.437, RSMo. This subsection does not apply to the inspection ordisclosure of the contents of the records of peace officers for the purposeof pursuing a civil forfeiture action pursuant to the provisions of section195.140, RSMo.

4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the releaseof information and data to persons or organizations authorized by law tocompile statistics relating to juveniles. The court shall adopt proceduresto protect the confidentiality of children's names and identities.

5. The court may, either on its own motion or upon application by thechild or his representative, or upon application by the juvenile officer,enter an order to destroy all social histories, records, and information,other than the official court file, and may enter an order to seal theofficial court file, as well as all peace officers' records, at any timeafter the child has reached his seventeenth birthday if the court findsthat it is in the best interest of the child that such action or any partthereof be taken, unless the jurisdiction of the court is continued beyondthe child's seventeenth birthday, in which event such action or any partthereof may be taken by the court at any time after the closing of thechild's case.

6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the releaseof general information regarding the informal adjustment or formaladjudication of the disposition of a child's case to a victim or a memberof the immediate family of a victim of any offense committed by the child.Such general information shall not be specific as to location and durationof treatment or detention or as to any terms of supervision.

7. Records of juvenile court proceedings as well as all informationobtained and social records prepared in the discharge of official duty forthe court shall be disclosed to the child fatality review panel reviewingthe child's death pursuant to section 210.192, RSMo, unless the juvenilecourt on its own motion, or upon application by the juvenile officer,enters an order to seal the records of the victim child.

(L. 1957 p. 642 § 211.310, A.L. 1969 H.B. 227, A.L. 1980 S.B. 512, A.L. 1989 H.B. 502, et al., A.L. 1993 H.B. 562, A.L. 1994 S.B. 595, A.L. 1995 H.B. 174, et al., A.L. 2004 H.B. 1453)

(1968) Issuance of a subpoena duces tecum requiring juvenile court to furnish records of defendant after jurisdiction of defendant had been transferred to circuit court was proper and records could properly be inspected. State v. Regan (Mo.), 427 S.W.2d 371.