Section 2152.71 | Maintenance and custody of records.
(A)(1) The juvenile court shall maintain records of all official cases brought before it, including, but not limited to, an appearance docket, a journal, and, in cases pertaining to an alleged delinquent child, arrest and custody records, complaints, journal entries, and hearing summaries. The court shall maintain a separate docket for traffic cases and shall record all traffic cases on the separate docket instead of on the general appearance docket. The parents, guardian, or other custodian of any child affected, if they are living, or the nearest of kin of the child, if the parents are deceased, may inspect these records, either in person or by counsel, during the hours in which the court is open. Division (A)(1) of this section does not require the release or authorize the inspection of arrest or incident reports, law enforcement investigatory reports or records, or witness statements.
(2) The juvenile court shall send to the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, pursuant to section 109.57 of the Revised Code, a weekly report containing a summary of each case that has come before it and that involves the disposition of a child who is a delinquent child for committing an act that would be a felony or an offense of violence if committed by an adult.
(B) The clerk of the court shall maintain a statistical record that includes all of the following:
(1) The number of complaints that are filed with, or indictments or information made to, the court that allege that a child is a delinquent child, in relation to which the court determines under division (D) of section 2151.27 of the Revised Code that the victim of the alleged delinquent act was sixty-five years of age or older or permanently and totally disabled at the time of the alleged commission of the act;
(2) The number of complaints, indictments, or information described in division (B)(1) of this section that result in the child being adjudicated a delinquent child;
(3) The number of complaints, indictments, or information described in division (B)(2) of this section in which the act upon which the delinquent child adjudication is based caused property damage or would be a theft offense, as defined in division (K) of section 2913.01 of the Revised Code, if committed by an adult;
(4) The number of complaints, indictments, or information described in division (B)(3) of this section that result in the delinquent child being required as an order of disposition made under division (A) of section 2152.20 of the Revised Code to make restitution for all or part of the property damage caused by the child's delinquent act or for all or part of the value of the property that was the subject of the delinquent act that would be a theft offense if committed by an adult;
(5) The number of complaints, indictments, or information described in division (B)(2) of this section in which the act upon which the delinquent child adjudication is based would have been an offense of violence if committed by an adult;
(6) The number of complaints, indictments, or information described in division (B)(5) of this section that result in the delinquent child being committed as an order of disposition made under section 2152.16, divisions (A) and (B) of section 2152.17, or division (A)(2) of section 2152.19 of the Revised Code to any facility for delinquent children operated by the county, a district, or a private agency or organization or to the department of youth services;
(7) The number of complaints, indictments, or information described in division (B)(1) of this section that result in the case being transferred for criminal prosecution to an appropriate court having jurisdiction of the offense under section 2152.12 of the Revised Code.
(C) The clerk of the court shall compile an annual summary covering the preceding calendar year showing all of the information for that year contained in the statistical record maintained under division (B) of this section. The statistical record and the annual summary shall be public records open for inspection. Neither the statistical record nor the annual summary shall include the identity of any party to a case.
(D) Not later than June of each year, the court shall prepare an annual report covering the preceding calendar year showing the number and kinds of cases that have come before it, the disposition of the cases, and any other data pertaining to the work of the court that the juvenile judge directs. The court shall file copies of the report with the board of county commissioners. With the approval of the board, the court may print or cause to be printed copies of the report for distribution to persons and agencies interested in the court or community program for dependent, neglected, abused, or delinquent children and juvenile traffic offenders. The court shall include the number of copies ordered printed and the estimated cost of each printed copy on each copy of the report printed for distribution.
(E) If an officer is preparing pursuant to section 2947.06 or 2951.03 of the Revised Code or Criminal Rule 32.2 a presentence investigation report pertaining to a person, the court shall make available to the officer, for use in preparing the report, any records it possesses regarding any adjudications of that person as a delinquent child or regarding the dispositions made relative to those adjudications. The records to be made available pursuant to this division include, but are not limited to, any social history or report of a mental or physical examination regarding the person that was prepared pursuant to Juvenile Rule 32.
The Legislative Service Commission presents the text of this section as a composite of the section as amended by multiple acts of the General Assembly. This presentation recognizes the principle stated in R.C. 1.52(B) that amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation.
Available Versions of this Section
- July 5, 2002 – House Bill 393, House Bill 247 - 124th General Assembly [ View July 5, 2002 Version ]