Art. 404 Docketing of juvenile cases

Juvenile cases are kept separate from regular adult criminal cases and civil lawsuits. When a child's case goes to court, it gets its own file and docket number instead of being mixed in with other cases.

These juvenile records are also kept private. This means the general public cannot easily look them up or access them like they might with regular court cases. The goal is to protect the child's privacy and give young people a chance to move forward without their juvenile case following them around publicly later in life.

For families involved in a juvenile case, this means you can expect more privacy than you would in an adult criminal case. However, this does not mean the case disappears or that no records exist. Courts, certain officials, and sometimes other approved parties may still be able to access these records when the law allows it.