Is Juvenile Court required to release information to adult courts concerning an adult defendant's history of delinquency for the purpose of probation and/or presentence reports? 9-27-363 5-4-102 Yes.

STATE OF ARKANSAS OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL JUSTICE BUILDING, LITTLE ROCK 72201 STEVE GARKTON NO. 85-11 (501) 371-2007 ATTORNEY -GENERAL— January 21, 1985 Dr. William H. Townsend State Representative 1304 Wright Avenue Little Rock, AR 72206 RE: Release of Information by Juvenile Court to Adult Courts Dear Dr. Townsend: You have requested an opinion regarding the following question: Is Juvenile Court required to release information to adult courts concerning an adult defendant's history of delinquency (charges and dispositions in Juvenile Court), for the purpose of probation and/or pre-sentence reports? Specifically your concern is whether there is a conflict between Ark. Stats. Ann. §45-444 and §41-804(2). As you stated in your letter, §45-444, which is contained in the Juvenile Code, prohibits evidence introduced in a juvenile court proceeding from being admitted in any other proceeding unless it is permissible under the Rules of Evidence. On the other hand, §41-804(2), part of the criminal code, requires that the pre-sentencing report which is submitted to the trial judge include information regarding the defendant's prior delinquent acts. The two sections are not in conflict. The juvenile code section refers only to evidence in a proceeding which would determine civil or criminal liability while the pre-sentencing report is submitted to the Court after the defendant has been found guilty. The report is not submitted to a jury if they are the sentencing entity, and the Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled that such informa- tion would not be proper to submit to the jury even if the defendant wanted it presented to them. Fields v. State, 255 Ark. 562, 502 S.W.2d 480 (1974). Dr. William H. Townsend Page 2 January 21, 1985 It is true that much confusion surrounds the issue of confi- dentiality of juvenile court records partly because by statute the identify of the juvenile is protected, §45-443, and the juvenile referee can conduct closed hearings. §45- 442. In addition §45-441.1 provides for expungement of the record in certain cases. However, according to the criminal code, expungement does not mean that records are destroyed, and by law they are still available to judicial officers. §43-1231. Nowhere in the juvenile code is there a prohibi- tion against juvenile court release of such information to adult court authorities. Therefore, under present Arkansas law, the juvenile court must release court records upon request for the purposes outlined in §41-804(2). The foregoing opinion which I hereby approve was prepared by Assistant Attorney General, Elizabeth Dowling. Singprely, CoA STEVE| CLARK Attorney General jsc:ED:dc