Relief from a Criminal Conviction (2023 Edition)

This part reviews the criteria for expunctions of delinquency proceedings—that is, proceedings in which a juvenile is alleged or adjudicated to be delinquent (see Table 24). The pertinent statutes are G.S. 7B-3200 through G.S. 7B-3202. G.S. 7B-2512 requires the court at disposition to notify the juvenile of the possibility of expunging the records of the case under G.S. 7B-3200. For a discussion of expunctions of records of adult court proceedings involving juveniles, see supra Expunctions on Basis of Age: Adult Convictions for Misdemeanors and Class H and I Felonies Committed by Juvenile; Expunctions of Dismissals and Similar Dispositions: Charges Remanded to Juvenile Court.

Generally, a delinquency adjudication is not considered a criminal conviction and therefore does not trigger the kinds of collateral consequences that follow a criminal conviction. See G.S. 7B-2412 (so stating). Records of delinquency proceedings are confidential and, unless an exception applies, may not be disclosed regardless of whether the records are expunged. See David W. Andrews & John Rubin, North Carolina Juvenile Defender Manual § 2.8, Right to Confidentiality (UNC School of Government, 2017). Still, expunction of court records may benefit a person who was the subject of delinquency proceedings.[1]

Because it is not a conviction, a prior delinquency adjudication should not bar an expunction of an adult criminal matter under statutes that make a prior conviction a bar. An expunction of a delinquency matter also should not bar a later expunction of most adult criminal matters. Although some adult expunction statutes make an expunction of an adult matter a bar to a later expunction—for example, G.S. 15A-145.5 bars an expunction if a person has a prior expunction under G.S. 15A-145.5 before the offense to be expunged—two adult statutes potentially make a prior delinquency expunction a bar. The main one is G.S. 15A-145.4, which deals with nonviolent felonies committed before age 18 and allows an expunction if a “search of the confidential record of expunctions conducted by the Administrative Office of the Courts shows that the person has not been previously granted an expunction.” See also G.S. 15A-145.6 (containing similar language for expunction of prostitution offenses). The confidential records of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) include expunctions of delinquency matters. See G.S. 7B-3200(i) (requiring clerk of court to report delinquency expunctions to AOC). It is not clear that the General Assembly intended for an expunction of a delinquency matter to bar relief under G.S. 15A-145.4 or whether it merely used the above language as a shorthand way of referring to all of the possible adult expunctions. Other parts of the statute support the latter interpretation. G.S. 15A-145.4(d)(2) allows the court to review the petitioner’s juvenile record in considering an expunction petition under that statute, but it does not require the court to deny the petition if the petitioner has a juvenile record. See supra Expunctions on Basis of Age: Nonviolent Felony Convictions for Offenses Committed before Age 18. It would be a curious result if a person with a juvenile record could obtain an expunction under G.S. 15A-145.4 but could not obtain one with an expunged record.

Notwithstanding that a prior delinquency expunction should have a limited effect, it may present a practical obstacle to an adult expunction because the AOC appears to report all prior expunctions to a judge considering an adult expunction petition. See, e.g., AOC-CR-266 (Dec. 2023) (indicating on expunction form for drug conviction, under report section on second page, that AOC reports all prior expunctions to court). A judge might take this information into account even though the adult expunction statutes do not make a juvenile expunction a consideration. In contrast, if the petitioner does not obtain a delinquency expunction, the court ordinarily will not obtain any information about prior delinquency proceedings, which are confidential except when a person is requesting an expunction under G.S. 15A-145.4.

As in many other expunction statutes, G.S. 7B-3200 treats traffic violations differently than other criminal convictions. An adjudication or conviction of a traffic violation is not a bar to expunction of a delinquency adjudication. This guide takes the position that the term “traffic violation,” as used in the expunction statutes, means any misdemeanor under Chapter 20 of the General Statutes unless otherwise specified. The meaning of traffic violation, including impaired driving, is discussed further in Appendixes: Frequently Asked Questions (Traffic Violations and Driving While Impaired (DWI)).

For a further discussion of expunctions of juvenile proceedings, see David W. Andrews & John Rubin, North Carolina Juvenile Defender Manual Ch. 17, Expunction of Juvenile Records (UNC School of Government, 2017). See also Expunction Toolkit, a collection of materials on expunctions on the website of the North Carolina Office of the Juvenile Defender. 

Table 24. Delinquency Adjudications and Dismissals without Adjudications