GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

S	1 

SENATE BILL 993

Short Title:  Fingerprint/Photo. Juv./AB.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senator Cooper.

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Referred to:  Judiciary I/Constitution

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May 4, 1995

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THAT JUVENILES BE FINGERPRINTED AND PHOTOGRAPHED UPON ADJUDICATION OF DELINQUENCY FOR AN OFFENSE THAT WOULD BE A CLASS A, B, C, D, OR E FELONY IF COMMITTED BY AN ADULT, TO OPEN JUVENILE RECORDS IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, TO ALLOW PUBLICATION OF THE NAMES AND PICTURES OF CERTAIN JUVENILES, AND TO CLARIFY THAT NONTESTIMONIAL IDENTIFICATION PROCEDURES SET FORTH IN THE JUVENILE CODE DO NOT APPLY TO CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS WHO ARE SIXTEEN AND SEVENTEEN YEARS OF AGE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Article 48 of Chapter 7A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 7A-603.  Fingerprinting and photographing delinquent juveniles.
(a)	A juvenile shall be fingerprinted and photographed by a law enforcement officer or agency upon adjudication of the juvenile as a delinquent pursuant to G.S. 7A-637 for an offense that would be a Class A, B, C, D, or E felony if committed by an adult.  Upon adjudication, the court shall order the juvenile be fingerprinted and photographed unless the juvenile has been fingerprinted and photographed previously and the fingerprints and photographs are in a proper format for transfer to the State Bureau of Investigation.
(b)	Fingerprints obtained pursuant to this section shall be transferred to the State Bureau of Investigation in a format approved by the State Bureau of Investigation and placed in the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to be used for all investigation and comparison purposes. Photographs shall be placed in a format approved by the State Bureau of Investigation and may be used for all investigative or comparison purposes.
(c)	Fingerprints and photographs taken pursuant to this section shall not be included in the clerk's record pursuant to G.S. 7A-675 and shall not be eligible for expunction pursuant to G.S. 7A-676."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 7A-596 reads as rewritten:
"§ 7A-596.  Authority to issue nontestimonial identification order where juvenile alleged to be delinquent.
Nontestimonial identification procedures shall not be conducted on any juvenile alleged to be delinquent without a court order issued pursuant to this Article unless the juvenile has been transferred to superior court for trial as an adult in which case procedures applicable to adults as set out in Articles 14 and 23 of Chapter 15A shall apply. A nontestimonial identification order authorized by this Article may be issued by any judge of the district court or of the superior court upon request of a prosecutor. As used in this Article, 'nontestimonial identification' means identification by fingerprints, palm prints, footprints, measurements, blood specimens, urine specimens, saliva samples, hair samples, or other reasonable physical examination, handwriting exemplars, voice samples, photographs, and lineups or similar identification procedures requiring the presence of a juvenile."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 7A-597 reads as rewritten:
"§ 7A-597.  Time of application for nontestimonial identification order.
A request for a nontestimonial identification order may be made prior to taking a juvenile alleged to be delinquent into custody or after custody and prior to the adjudicatory hearing."
Sec. 4.  G.S. 7A-675 reads as rewritten:
"§ 7A-675.  Confidentiality of records.
(a)	The clerk of superior court shall maintain a complete record of all juvenile cases filed in the clerk's office to be known as the juvenile record, which shall be withheld from public inspection except as provided in this subsection.  The record shall include the summons, petition, custody order, all court orders, written motions, search warrants and related documents, nontestimonial orders and related documents, discovery documents, written reports, the electronic or mechanical recording of the hearing, and other papers filed in the proceeding.  The recording of the hearing shall be reduced to a written transcript only when notice of appeal has been timely given.  After the time for appeal has expired with no appeal having been filed, the recording of the hearing may be erased or destroyed upon the written order of the judge.
The following persons may examine the juvenile's record without an order of the judge:
(1)	The juvenile, the juvenile's parent, guardian, or custodian, or another authorized representative of the juvenile.
	(2)	The prosecutor in a criminal proceeding that involves the juvenile.
A juvenile's record of an adjudication of delinquency for an offense that would be a Class A, B, C, D, or E felony if committed by an adult may be used in all subsequent criminal proceedings for any purpose that an adult conviction may be used.
(3)	Juvenile court counselors.
Except as provided in this subsection, a juvenile's court record may be examined only by a written order of the judge.
(b)	The Chief Court Counselor shall maintain a record of the cases of juveniles under supervision by court counselors which shall include family background information; reports of social, medical, psychiatric, or psychological information concerning a juvenile or his family; a record of the probation reports of a juvenile; interviews with his family; or other information which the judge finds should be protected from public inspection in the best interest of the juvenile.
(c)	The Director of the Department of Social Services shall maintain a record of the cases of juveniles under protective custody by his Department or under placement by the court.  This file shall include material similar in nature to that described in subsection (b).
(d)	The records maintained pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) may be examined only by order of the judge except that the juvenile shall have the right to examine them.
(e)	Law enforcement records and files concerning a juvenile alleged to be delinquent or otherwise alleged to be within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court shall be kept separate from the records and files of adults.  Law enforcement records and files concerning juveniles shall be open only to the inspection of the prosecutor, court counselors, the juvenile, and the juvenile's parent, guardian, and custodian.
(f)	All records and files maintained by the Division of Youth Services shall be withheld from public inspection and shall be open only to the inspection of the juvenile, professionals in that agency who are directly involved in the juvenile's case, and court counselors.  The judge authorizing commitment of a juvenile shall have the right to inspect and order the release of records maintained by the Division of Youth Services on that juvenile.
(g)	Disclosure of information concerning any juvenile alleged to be delinquent under investigation or alleged to be within the jurisdiction of the court that would reveal the identity of that juvenile is prohibited except that publication of names and pictures of runaways is permitted with the permission of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian.
(h)	Nothing in this section shall preclude the necessary sharing of information among authorized agencies.
(i)	In the case of a child victim, a judge may order the sharing of information among public agencies the judge deems necessary to reduce the trauma to the child victim."
Sec. 5.  G.S. 15A-502(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	This section does not authorize the taking of photographs or fingerprints of a juvenile alleged to be delinquent except under G.S. 7A-596 through 7A-601 and 7A-603."
Sec. 6.  This act becomes effective October 1, 1995, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.