Q: Is it true that a court can refuse to provide a transcript of a court proceeding to the accused in a case or to the parent of the juvenile accused? What recourse is there to challenge that refusal? If the answer could depend on which state it’s in, where would you start looking to find a procedure to challenge the refusal?
A: Many states, including California, have adopted laws that make juvenile records confidential and only subject to limited disclosure. In California, for example, section 827 of the Welfare & Institutions Code provides that juvenile court records are confidential and “may be inspected . . . [by] the minor who is the subject of the proceeding, his or her parents or guardian, the attorneys for the parties,” certain officials, and to any person designated by a juvenile court order upon filing of a petition. There are many statutes and regulations governing access to juvenile records in California, however, and there may be situations in which a particular juvenile dependency court record would not be released to parents.
As to your question on where to start searching for the laws and procedure to access juvenile court records in other states, I would suggest doing some simple internet searches (such as Google searches) for information on laws affecting juvenile court records in a particular state. Findlaw.com might be another useful source. If that does not yield any helpful information and if you do not have a subscription to a legal database such as Lexis or Westlaw, I would suggest you contact an attorney in the particular state who specializes in access to public records.