SEALED JUVENILE RECORD REFERENCES

HB0078

HOUSE BILL 78

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Andrea Reeb
and
Nicole Chavez

AN ACT

RELATING TO RECORDS;
AUTHORIZING A PARTY TO REFER TO THE
EXISTENCE OF A SEALED JUVENILE RECORD FOR THE PURPOSES OF A
HEARING REGARDING PRETRIAL DETENTION, CONDITIONS OF RELEASE OR
SENTENCING
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1.
Section 32A-2-26 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993,
Chapter 77, Section 55, as amended) is amended to read:

"32A-2-26. SEALING OF RECORDS.--

A. On motion by or on behalf of a person who has
been the subject of a delinquency petition or on the court's
own motion, the court shall vacate its findings, orders and
judgments on the petition and order the legal and social files
and records of the court, probation services and any other
agency in the case sealed. If requested in the motion, the
court shall also order law enforcement files and records
sealed. An order sealing records and files shall be entered if
the court finds that:

(1) two years have elapsed since the final
release of the person from legal custody and supervision or two
years have elapsed since the entry of any other judgment not
involving legal custody or supervision;

(2) the person has not, within the two years
immediately prior to filing the motion, been convicted of a
felony or of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or been
found delinquent by a court and no proceeding is pending
seeking such a conviction or finding; and

(3) the person is eighteen years of age or
older or the court finds that good cause exists to seal the
records prior to the child's eighteenth birthday.

B. Reasonable notice of the motion shall be given
to:

(1) the children's court attorney;

(2) the authority granting the release;

(3) the law enforcement officer, department
and central depository having custody of the law enforcement
files and records; and

(4) any other agency having custody of records
or files subject to the sealing order.

C. Upon the entry of the sealing order, the
proceedings in the case shall be treated as if they never
occurred and all index references shall be deleted. The court,
law enforcement officers and departments and agencies shall
reply, and the person may reply, to an inquiry that no record
exists with respect to the person. Copies of the sealing order
shall be sent to each agency or official named in the order.

D. Inspection of the files and records or the
release of information in the records included in the sealing
order may thereafter be permitted by the court only:

(1) upon motion by the person who is the
subject of the records and only to those persons named in the
motion; and

(2) in its discretion, in an individual case,
to any clinic, hospital or agency that has the person under
care or treatment or to other persons engaged in fact finding
or research.

E. Any finding of delinquency or need of services
or conviction of a crime subsequent to the sealing order may at
the court's discretion be used by the court as a basis to set
aside the sealing order.

F. A court may set aside a sealing order for the
juvenile disposition of a youthful offender and any evidence
given in a hearing in court for a youthful offender for the
purpose of considering the setting of bail or other conditions
of release of a person charged with a felony whether charged as
an adult or a juvenile.

G. A child who has been the subject of a petition
filed pursuant to the provisions of the Delinquency Act shall
be notified in writing by the department when the child reaches
the age of eighteen or at the expiration of legal custody and
supervision, whichever occurs later, that the department's
records have been sealed and that the court, the children's
court attorney, the child's attorney and the referring law
enforcement agency have been notified that the child's records
are subject to sealing.

H. The department shall seal the child's files and
records when the child reaches the age of eighteen or at the
expiration of the disposition, whichever occurs later. The
department shall notify the children's court attorney, the
child's attorney and the referring law enforcement agency that
the child's records are subject to sealing.

I. Youthful offender records sealed pursuant to
Subsection H of this section may be unsealed by the court along
with any evidence given in a hearing in court for a youthful
offender for the purpose of considering the setting of bail or
other conditions of release of a person charged with a felony,
whether charged as an adult or juvenile.

J. A child who is determined by the court not to be
a delinquent offender shall have the child's files and records
in the instant proceeding automatically sealed by the court
upon motion by the children's court attorney at the conclusion
of the proceedings.

K. After sealing, the department may store and use
a person's records for research and reporting purposes, subject
to the confidentiality provisions of Section 32A-2-32 NMSA 1978
and other applicable federal and state laws.

L. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsections A
through K of this section, and only with prior notice to the
court, a party may refer to the existence of a juvenile record
and to the contents of the juvenile record in written pleadings
for the purposes of a hearing held in accordance with Article
2, Section 13 of the constitution of New Mexico, a hearing held
pursuant to supreme court rule to consider or address
conditions of release or a sentencing hearing. A party may
refer to the existence of a juvenile record in all other
written pleadings but shall not disclose the contents of the
juvenile record unless otherwise allowed by law.
"

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