TL;DR

According to founding attorney Richard S. Sterger, a juvenile DUI handled as a misdemeanor is sealed automatically once the child completes the court's rehabilitative process, so employers, landlords and colleges generally cannot see it. An underage DUI for an 18 to 20 year old is different: it goes through the adult system, court records are public, and it will show up if a criminal background check is run. Tools such as a wet reckless reduction or a shorter probation that allows an expungement can change how it appears.

• A DUI with no accident, severe injury or death is treated as a misdemeanor, and for a juvenile the record is sealed automatically once the court's rehabilitative process is complete and the court releases jurisdiction.
• Juvenile police reports, arrest reports and investigation files are never made public. Getting access requires a court motion, a qualifying reason, and a judge's review.
• For 18 to 20 year olds, court records are public and the DUI will show up on a criminal background check. Even dismissed or expunged cases can leave an arrest record.
• Reducing a true DUI to a wet reckless keeps it from showing up as a DUI, although it can still be treated as a DUI for future repeat offenses.
• A shorter probation term can open the door to a California expungement, after which the person no longer has to disclose the case on a job application and a background check shows a dismissed count.
• Private data companies pull filings from county databases, so outdated background check results may not show that a charge was dismissed. This can often be fixed by producing the updated court file.

Will a juvenile DUI show up on job or college background checks?

Richard S. Sterger: I said that there's this distinction between underage adult crimes and underage juvenile crimes, and that's going to play an important role. When you're dealing with a misdemeanor, which a DUI is, if it didn't involve an accident or a severe injury to somebody else or a death of somebody else, it's going to be treated as a misdemeanor. And once you complete the rehabilitative process that is prescribed by the court and you are released from the jurisdiction of the court, your record is going to be sealed. And in cases like this, your record is going to be sealed automatically.

Now there are provisions to that, and carry-forward penalties, that may come up if you later get a DUI, where that record may not be sealed for all purposes. But with respect to who gets access to it at the level of jobs, housing, colleges, these are not people that are going to get ahold of this type of information. It is sealed for a reason. We're trying to make sure that the penalties of a youthful indiscretion do not translate into lifelong permanent or even longer term issues for them in the area of housing and employment.

What about an 18 to 20 year old with a DUI?

Richard S. Sterger: The 18 year old, you may be in a different situation. The 18 to 21, if a criminal background check is run, it's going to show up. It is different. One of the things that we work towards, if at all possible, is there are two methods that we use.

If they actually are over a 0.08 and they have a true DUI, then what we look to do is see if we can categorize it down to a wet reckless so it doesn't show up as a DUI. That doesn't mean that it won't be treated as a DUI in the future, if you have repeat offenses.

And then another way to do it is a shorter time of probation, if we can negotiate that. A shorter time of probation would then allow us the opportunity under California law to do an expungement, where they would no longer have to disclose it on an employment application. And importantly, in that over 18 category, with an expungement it does show up differently on a background check. It shows up as a dismissed count.

Can a DUI be kept off my child's permanent record?

Richard S. Sterger: Permanent record is an interesting word. When I was a kid, I thought permanent record really just had to do with school. I never even really thought of permanent record from a criminal context.

As a juvenile, the police reports, all the investigation, the arrest report, those things are funneled into the juvenile system and then they're sealed. They're never actually made public. If you want to get it, you're going to have to file a motion with the court. You have to be in a certain category of people for a certain specified number of reasons. And even before you get that, there's a level of scrutiny where a judge will oversee who will actually ever get access to view those. This is not some minor thing. Your records are very, very protected as a juvenile.

Now as an 18 to 20 year old, a lot of this stuff is public. Court records are public. And even for things that are later dismissed or expunged, the arrest record still shows up. It's very different now because there are companies out there that are scouring county databases, and they are pulling every single thing that is ever filed.

Why can a dismissed DUI still appear on a background check?

Richard S. Sterger: Whether it's an arrest report, a complaint in a criminal case, a restraining order, these things don't disappear, not because they're part of your permanent record, but because so many people are gathering data and databasing information about individuals. Whether there's a centralized file someplace, like it used to be, that people could access, that's not the question anymore. It's how many people grab that information and have stale information if that charge was dismissed.

I have had plenty of times where people have come to me and their question is, wait a second. I was arrested, but when I went to apply for this job, it didn't show up that it was dismissed. Oftentimes, the company will be using a background check agency. They may have pulled your file at some point, and that's what they showed. And so they don't have the updated information that it turned out you were wrongfully accused. So you just have this outstanding record. Oftentimes, we can clear that up by getting the subsequent file and being able to produce it.

But you have to understand that a lot of the problems people are concerned about when they talk about a permanent record is that people are going to see something that I've done, and it may influence how they perceive me. And, unfortunately, with that permanent record, when you're over 18, you run the risk of that perception.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can employers see my child's juvenile DUI?

Generally no, according to Richard S. Sterger. A juvenile DUI treated as a misdemeanor is sealed automatically once the child completes the court's rehabilitative process, and jobs, housing providers and colleges are not people who get access to that information.

Who can access sealed juvenile DUI records?

Juvenile police and arrest reports are never made public. Someone seeking them must file a motion with the court, fall within a specified category of people for a specified reason, and pass a judge's review.

What is a wet reckless and how does it help an 18 to 20 year old?

If a young adult was over 0.08, the defense may try to have the charge categorized down to a wet reckless so it does not show up as a DUI. It can still be treated as a DUI if there are repeat offenses in the future.

Does an expungement erase a DUI from a background check?

Not entirely. For someone over 18, an expungement means they no longer have to disclose the case on a job application, and the background check shows it as a dismissed count, but the arrest record can still show up.

Why does a dismissed charge still show up when my child applies for jobs?

Background check agencies and data companies pull filings from county databases and may be relying on older information that does not reflect the dismissal. Sterger says this can often be cleared up by getting the updated court file and producing it.

Edited for length and clarity from a recorded conversation with Richard S. Sterger.