If You Don’t Want IDFPR to Know You Have a Juvenile Record, Expunge It
Recently, a former client of mine was getting ready to sign up to sit for the nursing exam but discovered that she wasn’t sure how to answer the criminal history question on the exam’s application form, having previously sealed her adult criminal case and expunged her juvenile history.
Even I was uncertain how she should answer the question. The question provided no guidance to individuals whose criminal history had been expunged or sealed. In Illinois, employers are supposed to advise job candidates that they are not required to disclose sealed record information.
I contacted the agency that oversees the nursing exam. The agency suggested I speak with someone at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), the agency that licenses nurses and other health care professionals. An employee in the licensing division said my client should answer “yes” to having a criminal background. He further instructed her to provide him with a letter from the court clerk’s office confirming that her records had been expunged and sealed.
FBI Discloses Sealed Adult & Unexpunged Juvenile Records
Even with this information, my client was still anxious about completing the exam’s application form. Given that my client was going to be fingerprinted and her prints run through the Illinois State Police’s (ISP) and the FBI’s criminal indexes, I suggested she obtain a copy of her FBI report. This way, she would know ahead of time what information would appear on it.
I told my client that her sealed adult record would be on the report. The FBI does not recognize the concept of “sealing” a criminal record. However, the FBI does expunge criminal records. Given that my client’s juvenile history had been expunged more than a year earlier, I assumed that information would not be on the FBI report.
Much to my surprise, the FBI report listed my client’s entire juvenile history but not her sealed adult record – the exact opposite of what I’d expected. Looking for an explanation, my client contacted the FBI. The agency told her it never received a copy of her juvenile expungement order.
Juvenile Records: Hidden but not Forgotten
My client’s experience highlights a common problem faced by individuals who have a juvenile record they’ve never expunged.
Despite my client’s best efforts, she still ended up having to acknowledge the existence of her juvenile history (even though IDFPR doesn’t consider this history when making licensing decisions) all because someone forgot to send a copy of the court order to the FBI.
Because juvenile records in Illinois are not public, it is not unusual for someone to forget he/she has a juvenile background – especially when charges are never referred to juvenile court for prosecution. All too often, people fail to recall their juvenile history until they apply for a job, a license, seek to become a foster or adoptive parent, and undergo a fingerprint criminal background check.
While IDFPR will not penalize my client for having a juvenile record, others have not been so fortunate. In one case, a client had a school district’s job offer revoked. In another instance, DCFS refused a client’s request to adopt a friend’s infant she had been caring for.
Even though the ISP seldom shares unexpunged juvenile record information with others, the FBI routinely does. If you were arrested or prosecuted as a juvenile prior to 2011, you should consider expunging these records.
Nearly all juvenile records are eligible to expunge. It doesn’t cost you anything to file for expungement. Once expunged, you never have to revisit these records again – assuming the FBI receives the court order.
Do people care if you were arrested or adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile? Unfortunately, some do.