Iowa Statute §232.150 specifically sets out the requirements and the process for how and when juvenile court records may be sealed.
First, there must be a court hearing. This can be requested by the person who was the subject of a juvenile action, or it can be set by the court’s own motion. After the hearing, the court must order the official juvenile court records in that case sealed, if all of the following requirements are met:
1. The person is at least 18 years old, and two years have passed since the last official action in that person’s juvenile case;
2. The person has not been subsequently convicted of a felony, aggravated or serious misdemeanor, or adjudicated a delinquent child;
3. The person was not placed on youthful offender status, transferred to district court and sentenced after the person’s 18th birthday for the offense that caused the person to be placed on youthful offender status.
If, however, the person had been adjudicated delinquent for an offense that would have been an aggravated misdemeanor or felony if that person had been 18 or older at the time of the offense, the court must not order the records sealed – unless, after a hearing, the court finds both (1) and (2) above, and that sealing the records would be in both the best interests of the person and the public.
If the person was required to pay restitution to a victim due to a delinquent act, and that amount has not yet been paid, the juvenile court records may still be sealed. However, the name of the court, title of the action and the file number must remain unsealed, and the amount of restitution still owed will be a judgment and lien until it is fully paid.
After the judge has entered an order sealing juvenile court records, all agencies and people who have custody of the records must send them to the court, and all index references to the sealed records must be erased. The records are no longer deemed to exist as a matter of law. If the juvenile court, or any other agency who received a copy of the sealing order, receives any inquires about the records, they must respond by stating they do not exist.
Inspection of any sealed records and the disclosure of their contents is permitted only pursuant to a court order, upon the request of the person who is the subject of the records. A judge may also, in his or her discretion, allow sealed records to be inspected or their contents disclosed for research purposes (only to people who are conducting “bona fide” research and under “whatever conditions the court deems proper”).