Does the law that makes personally identifiable arrest information a public record apply to the arrest of a person who is 16-or 17-years-old and charged with a Class A – E felony? This is the most common question I have received since the law of juvenile jurisdiction changed on December 1, 2024. Beginning with offenses committed on that date, Class A – E felonies committed at ages 16 and 17 fall under original criminal jurisdiction. G.S. 7B-1501(7)b.2. That means that these cases are now criminal cases from their inception. At the same time, the youth involved fall under the definition of juvenile in the Juvenile Code. G.S. 7B-1501(17). This leaves many people wondering which law applies—the public records law about law enforcement arrest records or the Juvenile Code provisions about the confidential nature of law enforcement records and files concerning juveniles?
The Public Nature of Arrest Records
Law enforcement records of criminal investigations are generally not public records. G.S. 132-1.4(a). However, some personally identifiable information about a person who is arrested, charged, or indicted is explicitly designated as a public record. G.S. 132-1.4(c). This includes the name, sex, age, address, and employment of the person along with information about the alleged violation of law. Details about the arrest are also designated as a public record under the same statute. This includes the time and place of the arrest; whether resistance, possession or use of weapons, or pursuit were involved in the arrest; and a description of any items seized in connection with the arrest.
The Confidential Nature of Law Enforcement Delinquency Records
One fundamental difference between the law that governs criminal matters and the law that governs juvenile delinquency matters is the privacy that is afforded law enforcement records of juvenile matters. “All law enforcement records and files concerning a juvenile” must be kept separate from adult records and files and withheld from public inspection. G.S. 7B-3001(b). The statute includes a list of people who can examine and make copies of juvenile law enforcement records. Anyone not on that list can only access the juvenile records if the court allows that access through a court order. There is no provision that mirrors the criminal law’s explicit designation of certain arrest information as a public record.
Which Cases are Covered by the Juvenile Code Provisions?
Some have asked if the Juvenile Code provisions apply to the now criminal arrest records of minors. The question revolves around who counts as a juvenile under the language of G.S. 7B-3001(b). According to G.S. 7B-1501(17), a juvenile is “any person who has not reached the person’s eighteenth birthday and is not married, emancipated, or a member of the Armed Forces of the United States.” The Juvenile Code also includes a different definition for a delinquent juvenile. G.S. 7B-1501(7). That definition narrows the broader definition of juvenile to include minors who commit certain offenses at specific ages. Which juveniles are protected under the Juvenile Code provisions that provide confidentiality for law enforcement records and files concerning a juvenile? There are two important pieces of law to consider in answering that question.
1. The Plain Language of the Juvenile Code
The Juvenile Code confidentiality provision regarding law enforcement records and files concerning juveniles is contained in Article 30 of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes. Article 30 is titled “Juvenile Records and Social Reports of Delinquency and Undisciplined Cases.” The specific statutory provision that provides for the confidentiality of juvenile law enforcement records and files begins with a carveout for cases that are transferred to superior court. G.S. 7B-3001(b). The carveout provides that the Juvenile Code confidentiality protections apply to all law enforcement records and files concerning a juvenile “[u]nless jurisdiction of the juvenile has been transferred to superior court.” Therefore, once a case moves from original juvenile jurisdiction to the criminal jurisdiction of the superior court the law enforcement record confidentiality provisions of the Juvenile Code no longer apply.
Both the title of Article 30 and the carveout for cases transferred to superior court suggest that only juveniles who are subject to juvenile court jurisdiction are included in the Juvenile Code confidentiality provisions related to law enforcement records.
2. Existing Caselaw Regarding Juvenile Interrogation
There is one case in which provisions of the Juvenile Code were applied to all juveniles, including those who are subject to original criminal jurisdiction. In State v. Fincher, 309 N.C. 1 (1983), The Supreme Court of North Carolina held that the meaning of juvenile for the purpose of the enhanced right to have a parent, guardian, or custodian present during a custodial interrogation applies to all minors who fit within the general Juvenile Code definition of juvenile instead of the narrower definition of juveniles who are subject to delinquency jurisdiction.
The Fincher decision was based on language contained in the Juvenile Code before Chapter 7B was created to separate child welfare and delinquency and undisciplined law into two distinct subchapters. S.L. 1998-202. However, the statutory language analyzed in Fincher remains largely the same in the current provisions of the Juvenile Code. That language included text that introduces the statutory definitions and stated “[u]nless that context clearly requires otherwise, the following words have the listed meanings…” G.S. 7A-517. That same introductory language appears ahead of the current definitions of juvenile and delinquent juvenile in G.S. 7B-1501. The court in Fincher determined that the statutory context for enhanced interrogation protections did not “require, nor even suggest, a different interpretation” other than that the meaning of juvenile for the purposes of the enhanced interrogation rights applies to all people who fit the broader definition of juvenile. Fincher at 11.
As described above, there is context within G.S. 7B-3001(b) to suggest that the legislature did not intend for law enforcement record confidentiality to apply to cases in which people under the age of 18 are being tried as adults. It therefore appears that the reasoning in Fincher would not extend to the meaning of juvenile in the context of juvenile law enforcement record confidentiality.
Practice Prior to Raise the Age
It is also instructive to revisit the practice that was in place before original jurisdiction for these cases was shifted to juvenile jurisdiction in 2019. S.L. 2017-57, §16D.4.(a). Prior to implementation of raise the age, all offenses committed at ages 16 and 17 were under original criminal jurisdiction. Those cases sat in the same original jurisdictional legal space as current Class A – E felonies committed at ages 16 and 17. The Juvenile Code included the same juvenile law enforcement record confidentiality provisions as the current provisions. A quick search of pre-raise the age news shows that the arrest records of minors who fell under original criminal jurisdiction were treated as public records and not as juvenile law enforcement records that fell under G.S. 7B-3001(b). See, e.g. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article139077843.html and https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2018/04/10/16-year-old-arrested-and-charged-with-murder-in-high-point.
Conclusion
Given the plain language and context of the statute as well as prior practices under the same legal structure, it appears that the juvenile law enforcement record confidentiality provisions do not apply to the arrest records of minors who are arrested for Class A – E felonies at the ages of 16 and 17 and are under criminal jurisdiction. This returns the law and practice to what existed before raise the age.