What are Maryland Juvenile Court Records?

Minors who commit crimes contrary to the penal code still incur criminal liabilities in Maryland. However, the aim of the Maryland Courts that handle juvenile cases is the reformation of the offender while simultaneously protecting society. Suffice to say that Maryland treats minor offenders differently from adults as far as the offender is less than the age of eighteen. Juvenile court records are documents and materials that detail an adolescent’s interactions with the criminal justice system in the state. Some of the information in a juvenile record is subject to public disclosure under the Maryland Public Information Act.

What Information is Contained In a Maryland Juvenile Record?

The information in a Maryland Juvenile record depends on the government agency that created it—the contents of law enforcement juvenile records will differ from the contents of a juvenile court record. However, both documents and contents will contain common features such as

• Personal information (name, age, sex, & address)
• Names and addresses of attorneys
• Educational history
• Case summaries
• Summons
• Warrants
• Petitions
• Orders
• Motions
• Hearing transcripts
• Evidence
• Psychiatric assessment report
• Substance-use evaluation report

What Cases are Heard By Maryland Juvenile Courts?

Indeed Maryland laws treat juvenile offenders differently. Generally, juvenile courts have exclusive jurisdiction over delinquent offenses and status offenses. Some of these include:

• Possession of marijuana
• Possession or purchase of a controlled substance
• Disturbing the peace or disorderly conduct
• Malicious destruction of property
• An offense involving inhalants
• An offense involving prostitution
• Theft
• Trespass
• Truancy
• Municipal curfew violations
• Underage drinking

This list is by no means exhaustive; it contains offenses common to minors due to age as well as crimes that adults commit. The prosecution of the above cases begins in a juvenile court. However, law enforcement may indict minors for more serious crimes. Here, the jurisdiction of the juvenile court ceases; the offender is tried as an adult, especially if he/she is in an age bracket. These include violent felonies such as:

• Carjacking
• Abduction & kidnapping
• Second-degree murder (or attempt)
• Manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter (involuntary manslaughter exempted)
• Second-degree rape or sex offense and attempt to commit
• Robbery and attempt with a deadly weapon
• First-degree assault
• Use or possession of a firearm
• Use or possession of a firearm in a drug crime

In the above scenarios, the juvenile is tried in an adult criminal court in a process called a waiver. A judge considers several factors to waiver up the juvenile offender to an adult court or waiver him/her down to a juvenile court. Some of these factors include age, degree of involvement in the crime, and public safety (§3–8A–06)..

Who is Eligible to View Juvenile Records in Maryland?

For the most part, Maryland treats juvenile records with the highest degree of confidentiality—to the extent that an unauthorized entity cannot subpoena a juvenile record (§3–827).. The law only allows the following entities to inspect juvenile records:  

• Court personnel
• Parties involved in the case
• Attorneys for the parties
• A Court-appointed Special Advocate for the minor
• Any authorized personnel of the Social Services Administration
• Any authorized staff of local departments investigating childhood neglect or abuse 
• The Department of Juvenile Services
• The staff of the Department providing treatment, services, or care to the juvenile

Note that for cases where the court has waived up a juvenile, statutory anonymity no longer applies. Here, court records and law enforcement records on the juvenile offender and his/her offense will be available in the public domain.   

How to Find Juvenile Records in Maryland

Apart from the entities listed above, every other requester must show good cause for the court to grant an order granting access to inspect a juvenile record. All requesters must contact the court where the case was filed to obtain the juvenile court record. In-person requests are preferable, but courts often allow mail and email requests. Either way, the requester must provide enough details to facilitate a record search and pay the fees associated with finding and reproducing the record. Similarly, for law enforcement juvenile records, the same applies—except that the individual must submit a request directed to the Maryland Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services under the Public Information Act.

Records that are considered public may be accessible from some third-party websites. These websites often make searching simpler, as they are not limited by geographic location, and search engines on these sites may help when starting a search for specific or multiple records. To begin using such a search engine on a third-party or government website, interested parties usually must provide:

• The name of the person involved in the record, unless said person is a juvenile
• The location or assumed location of the record or person involved. This includes information such as the city, county, or state that the person resides in or was accused in. 

Third-party sites are independent of government sources and are not sponsored by these government agencies. Because of this, record availability on third-party sites may vary.

Can You Look Up Maryland Juvenile Records Online?

No, an entity must receive special authorization to access electronic juvenile records in Maryland. However, for cases where the court has waived the juvenile’s right to confidentiality, the records are available online through Maryland CaseSearch. Also, certain third-party service providers allow access to publicly available juvenile records online.

Do Maryland Juvenile Records Show Up On Background Checks?

Yes, juvenile records in Maryland show up on criminal history information during background checks unless such juvenile records have been sealed or expunged by court order. Interested parties may read up on the process for expunging juvenile records in Maryland.

How Long Are Juvenile Records Kept In Maryland?

Maryland is not an automatic expungement state. Thus, juvenile records remain in the public domain for life unless the juvenile or his/her legal representative submits a request for expungement. Generally, the petition for expungement begins in the court where the case was adjudicated. Expungement in Maryland removes juvenile records from court files, the files of law enforcement agencies, and the files of any entity that has provided services to the juvenile under a court order. In deciding whether to grant the petition, the presiding judge considers whether the individual meets specific criteria.