What are Delaware Juvenile Court Records?

Delaware Juvenile Court Records include case files and reports of cases brought before the Delaware Family Court. These records concern unlawful acts committed by or against any person under 18 years of age. Under state law (10. Del. C § 1002), any person under 18 is generally not considered a criminal and cannot be charged with a crime in any court other than the Family Court. 

However, in the case of a traffic violation or any other criminal offenses as stated in Title 11, Chapter 5 of the State of Delaware Statutory Code, a young person below 18 years may be made to face trial in an adult court. The second part states that a child below the age of 10 could not be charged with any act of delinquency or a crime unless such a child is proven competent. Although there is no separate juvenile court for juvenile matters, there is a juvenile process that all courts in Delaware trying juvenile matters must follow. Delaware Family Court Rules and Procedures guide the Family Court in the dispensation of justice on juvenile issues. The responsibility of recording, filing, and maintaining Juvenile records is placed upon the Family Court.

What Information is Contained in a Delaware Juvenile Record?

The information contained in juvenile records is the documentation of all interactions with law enforcement agencies concerning the charges laid against the juvenile. Records may include:

• The personal details of the juvenile: full names, names of parents and guardians, residential address, physical description, identifiable marks like tattoos or birthmarks, etc 
• The Arrest details may include the arresting agencies, the date of arrest, the place of arrest, the incidents that led to the arrest, and the duration of the detention.
• The sentencing details may include the indictment, disposition of charges, court proceedings, the form of sentencing, and the due date of release.

Juvenile records in Delaware are highly confidential, and the information is not disclosed to members of the public without a court order.

What Cases are Heard by Delaware Juvenile Courts?

There is no special Juvenile Court in the state of Delaware. The Family Court tries all cases that relate to or concern any person below the age of 18. The general assembly has empowered the Family Court to hear typical cases of;

• Juvenile delinquency
• Child neglect
• Child dependency
• Child abuse
• Adult misdemeanor against juveniles
• Child support
• Cohabitation, Marriage, and Divorce

The Family Court has jurisdiction to hear matters concerning the unlawful act committed by or against a juvenile. The Family Court has no jurisdiction over matters committed by juveniles such as traffic violation or criminal acts that are considered felonies, first and second-degree murder, rape, kidnapping, and other criminal acts as stated in Del. Code tit. 11.

Who is Eligible to View Juvenile Records in Delaware?

Apart from the juvenile, the parent or guardian of the juvenile, and law enforcement agencies in the state, no other person may view juvenile records. Juvenile records are kept with the State Bureau of Identification. The SBI is responsible for storing and maintaining juvenile records and criminal records. In the state of Delaware, all kinds of criminal records are usually kept away from the public, except the following:

• Criminal Justice agencies
• Licensing agencies and companies that have been mandated by State law to check the criminal history record information of an applicant
• Government Social agencies responsible for the rehabilitation of delinquent juveniles
• Research agencies must use the information in the records purely for research purposes. They must also obtain a court order before accessing the records.
• Juvenile’s attorney
• State public defenders

How to Find Juvenile Records in Delaware

The confidentiality of juvenile records in the State of Delaware made it impossible to find juvenile records online. To obtain juvenile records, holders or parents/ guardians of the holder may need to submit fingerprints and a photo means of identification like a driver’s license, a State ID, or a school ID to any of the State Bureau of Identification offices. The requester will pay $52 for a State of Delaware background check. The requester will also fill out a request form to obtain the record. The information required for the request form typically includes: the offender’s biodata and contact information, the purpose of the request, when the requester is expected to receive the document, and how the document should be delivered. Records may either be delivered by mail or email. An interested person who is not the record holder typically requires a court order before access is granted to juvenile records.

New Castle County
Delaware State Police
Troop 2
100 Lagrange Avenue
Newark, Delaware 19720
Tel: 1 800 464 4357, 302 739 2528

Kent County
Blue Hen Mall and Corporate Center
Suite 1B 655 Bay Road
Dover, Delaware 19901
Tel: (302) 739–5871

Sussex County
Thurman-Adams State Service Center
Room 202 546 S. Bedford Street
Georgetown, DE 19947
Tel: (302) 856–5340

Sussex County and New Castle County require that requesters book an appointment before visiting the State Bureau of Investigation office. Kent County does not require a prior appointment schedule; it is only expected that the requester visit the office within office hours. New Castle and Kent County accept cash, credit or debit card, money order, certified, or company checks made out to Delaware State Police to pay for the state background check. However, Sussex County does not accept cash.

Records that are considered public may be accessible from some third-party websites.  Operating independently of any federal, state, or local agency, such websites may simplify the search process as they are not limited by geographic location. In addition, third-party sites typically have search engines that can be used for filtering specific or multiple record(s). To use third-party or government websites, interested parties may need to 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

However, third-party sites are independent of government sources and are not sponsored by these government agencies. Therefore, the record results, availability, or accuracy cannot be guaranteed.

Can You Look Up Delaware Juvenile Records Online?

Juvenile records are confidential documents obtained by court order if the requester is not the records owner. A complete record of juvenile delinquency cannot be found on any online platform. The partial information that is available online is the Criminal History Record Information of a juvenile who is found to be adjudicated delinquent of crimes that are contained in Del. Code tit. 11.

Do Delaware Juvenile Records Show up on Background Checks?

There is a possibility of juvenile records showing up on background checks since the records are accessible to several organizations and private persons who have proved responsible and act on behalf of an organization. More so, there is no automatic expungement of records in Delaware. As long as a person does not file a petition to expunge past juvenile records, it will always show up on background checks.

The parent or guardian of a child who is younger than 18 may file a petition for the expungement of juvenile records on behalf of the child. Once a person is above the age of 18, personally filing a petition for juvenile records, expungement is possible. Expungement in Delaware is generally categorized as;

1. Mandatory Expungement

Del. Code tit. 10, § 1017 defined records that must be expunged as records created when a juvenile was charged with violation of county codes, ordinances, or charged with several misdemeanors, but the juvenile was not found to be adjudicated delinquent. Moreover, suppose the charges were as severe as a felony or any other criminal charges. In that case, an expungement of record must be granted once the juvenile is not found to be adjudicated, delinquent. If a juvenile has no prior cases or delinquency adjudications, pending charges, and at least a year has passed since their case was resolved in their favor, they generally qualify for Mandatory Expungement.

2. Discretional Expungement

Del. Code tit. 10, § 1018 defines discretional expungement of records as such records that must be served to the Attorney General, who may decide to file an objection within 30 days. For records under this category to be expunged, certain criteria typically must be met: 

• The state must determine that keeping the records of arrest and prosecution implies injustice and unfairness to the juvenile.
• It must be over a year after the case was terminated in favor of the juvenile.
• The juvenile must not have a pending or previous case of delinquency and must ensure that there has been no subsequent adjudication of delinquencies.
• It must be over three years since the last sentencing for adjudicated delinquency of misdemeanor, and the juvenile has no more than one case of delinquency involving misdemeanor sex offenses.
• The juvenile must not have more than two separate and distinctive delinquency cases involving minor misdemeanors like disobeying a county or municipal code, ordinance, or regulations.
• It must have been over five years since the last sentencing for adjudicated delinquency involving a violent misdemeanor or felony, and the juvenile has no more than one case of delinquency for the last five years.
• It must have been over seven years since the last sentencing for adjudicated delinquency involving crimes as stated in Title 11
• It must be proven that keeping the past juvenile record is an act of injustice against the record holder.

Expungement of records generally does not apply to offenses such as rape, first and second-degree murder, first-degree arson, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, home invasion, etc.

How Long are Juvenile Records Kept in Delaware?

Juvenile records are kept for as long as the offender decides not to file a petition for the record’s expungement. There is no automatic expungement of records, except on some conditions, such as if a juvenile offender receives a gubernatorial pardon. In other words, it is possible for records of unlawful acts committed by a person to remain forever.