Welfare and Institutions Code section 781.2
(a)
(1)On a monthly basis, the Department of Justice shall review state summary criminal history information and shall identify arrests that are eligible to be sealed.(2)
An arrest shall be eligible to be sealed if either of the following apply:(A)
The arrest only included misdemeanor offenses, at least one calendar year has elapsed since the date of the arrest, and all of the following apply:(i)
The person was younger than 18 years of age at the time of the arrest.(ii)
The arrest occurred on or after January 1, 1973.(B)
The arrest included a felony offense not listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707, at least three calendar years have elapsed since the date of the arrest, and all of the following apply:(i)
The person was younger than 18 years of age at the time of the arrest.(ii)
The arrest occurred on or after January 1, 1973.(b)
The department shall provide a list of arrests that are identified pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) to all agencies associated with the record of arrest.(c)
On a monthly basis, the arresting agency shall review the list of arrests provided pursuant to subdivision (b) and shall seal eligible arrest records if the arresting agency’s records do not contain information indicating that the arrest is not eligible to be sealed, without requiring an individual to petition for their arrest to be sealed.(d)
Within six months of receiving the list of arrests provided pursuant to subdivision (b), arresting agencies shall electronically report to the Department of Justice, in a manner prescribed by the Department of Justice, the records that shall be sealed.(e)
If arresting agencies have previously eliminated or sealed arrest records, then within six months of receiving the list of those arrests provided pursuant to subdivision (b), the agency shall electronically report to the Department of Justice, in a manner prescribed by the Department of Justice, that those records shall be sealed.(f)
The Department of Justice shall seal arrests reported pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e) of this section within 90 days. Any physical arrest records are exempt from this process and the Department of Justice shall seal those records at the point in which they are recorded in the state summary criminal history information repository.(g)
Commencing July 1, 2028, the Department of Justice shall annually publish statistics on the OpenJustice Web portal, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 13010, for each county regarding the total number of arrests in each of the following categories:(1)
The number of arrests identified pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).(2)
The number of arrests provided to arresting agencies pursuant to subdivision (b).(3)
The number of arrests reported to be sealed pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e).(4)
The number of arrests where sealing is in-progress by the Department of Justice pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e).(5)
The number of arrests where sealing has been completed by the Department of Justice pursuant to subdivisions (d), (e), and (f).(h)
Nothing in this section affects arrest statistics reported to the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 13010, 13011, and 13012.(i)
This section shall become operative on July 1, 2027, subject to an appropriation for these purposes in the annual Budget Act.
Source:
Section 781.2, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=WIC§ionNum=781.2. (accessed May 10, 2025).