Sealing a Juvenile Record
ORC 2151.356 — and the expungement that arrives on its own
A juvenile record does not disappear at eighteen. This is the assumption the whole page exists to correct. Turning eighteen does nothing to a juvenile court record on its own. What Ohio has instead is a sealing application under section 2151.356 and an expungement under 2151.358 that follows it, and the second one does arrive without being asked for.
Who handles this in Ohio: Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
Sealing is applied for. A person under eighteen at the time of the application may file six months after final discharge from parole or probation. A person who is eighteen or older may file immediately after final discharge. Those are two different starting points and the age at the time of applying is what picks between them.
Expungement is automatic once a record is sealed. The juvenile court shall expunge all records sealed under 2151.356 five years after the court issues the sealing order, or on the person's twenty third birthday, whichever date is earlier. There is no separate petition to file for it. The court carries out the destruction on its own schedule, which is a genuinely different design from the adult side.
| Step | How it happens | When |
|---|---|---|
| StepSealing | How it happensApplied for | WhenSix months after discharge if under eighteen, immediately after discharge if eighteen or older |
| StepExpungement | How it happensAutomatic, no petition | WhenFive years after the sealing order or the twenty third birthday, whichever is earlier |
Some records are sealed without anyone asking. In a proceeding under the juvenile protection order section, where the court does not issue a protection order, the court shall automatically seal all of the records in that proceeding.
A pending civil case holds the expungement open. Where the juvenile court is notified by a party that a civil action has been filed based on a case whose records are subject to a sealing order, the court shall not expunge those records until the civil action has been resolved and is no longer subject to further appellate review.
Which adjudications may be sealed and which may not, what the court weighs on an application, the notice that goes out and who may object, what sealing does to records held outside the court, and the treatment of a case that was transferred to adult court are in these sections and in the ones around them, and are not reproduced here. This page is about juvenile court records and is not the adult sealing route, which is its own procedure with its own waiting periods. Each county juvenile court publishes its own application forms, and whether a particular record qualifies is a question for that court and for a licensed Ohio attorney.
Sources for this section (2)
- ORC 2151.356 — Sealing of juvenile court records
- ORC 2151.358 — Expungement of a sealed juvenile record
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.