A Pennsylvania juvenile court can be required to disclose a child’s name, age and address after a delinquency finding for certain offenses. House Bill 2891 would take four entries off the lists that can trigger public disclosure. The House sent the bill to its Judiciary Committee on November 10. The referral did not change the law.
Under current law for court records, the public disclosure rule can apply when a child is found delinquent for conduct committed at age 14 or older that would amount to a listed offense if committed by an adult. It can also apply when a new delinquency petition alleges conduct subject to a hearing under Section 6336(e) and the child has a qualifying prior delinquency finding. The law governing police records has parallel provisions.
The bill’s four deletions cover first-degree felony burglary, specified forms of robbery, robbery of a motor vehicle, and violations of the chapter on firearms and other dangerous articles. In the court records provision, the bill strikes those entries from both lists. That means a qualifying finding for motor vehicle robbery, for example, would no longer trigger disclosure on its own under those lists. A separate qualifying finding, such as one for conduct that would amount to kidnapping, could still trigger disclosure under the remaining rules.
The bill makes the same four deletions for police records. It leaves the separate inspection rules for court records and police records in place, as well as the list of details courts and law enforcement agencies must disclose when a case qualifies under the public disclosure rule.
The House bill page lists the referral and shows no votes. The introduced text calls for the measure to take effect in 60 days if enacted. The committee referral does not start that clock.