Cook County Juvenile Expungement Numbers vs. Arrests…

Finally, we have some data about the Cook County Juvenile Expungement numbers, thanks to the following story that appeared on WBEZ this morning.

Update: Confirmed Numbers of Juvenile Expungements in Cook County

After months of trying to figure out how many actual expungements of juvenile criminal records were happening in Cook County, Linda Paul who is a journalist was able to get these confirmed numbers from the Clerk of the Circuit Court. These numbers are paltry and the Court should be ashamed of itself in our opinion. For reference, in 2010, there were over 27,000 arrests of juveniles under 17 years old in Chicago. Each time a young person is arrested in Chicago, they have a record. There were ONLY 80 juvenile criminal records expunged in Cook County for that same year!

Here are confirmed numbers regarding Juvenile Expungements.

JUVENILE EXPUNGEMENT STATS

Juvenile Expungements in Cook County 2006 to 2011

Date	Allowed	Expungements Denied
2006	39	1
2007	86	0
2008	58	1
2009	96	0
2010	80	0
2011 (to date)	22	0
TOTAL	381	2
Source: Clerk of the Circuit Court via Linda Paul (June 2011)

Here is the disclaimer from the Clerk of Court that came along with the numbers:

The information provided is a custom produced summary of the electronic court record that is maintained by the Clerk of the Circuit Court for internal and administrative purposes, from the paper documents with an understanding that the information is true and correct in as far as all aspects of the documents physically filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. The official court records are held and maintained in the hard copy paper files in the courthouse or other official Clerk’s repositories. The Clerk diligently strives to maintain accurate, complete and timely data in its electronic databases but shall not be liable for any consequential, exemplary, incidental or special damages arising from or in connection with data or information produced in response to the request for custom programming. However, because of the many variables involved in producing customized electronic data reports, users should not cite the provided information as an official or authoritative source and are advised to independently verify all information. All Users are advised to independently verify any information or data obtained with official court information reposing in the court files (i.e., pleadings, orders, half sheets, file jackets and the contents thereof, etc.).

How Many Juvenile Expungements Took Place in Cook County in 2009

There is some confusion about the number of successful expungements of juvenile records in Cook County.  WBEZ’s Inside & Out series about juvenile expungements in Illinois reported that only 95 successful expungements happened in 2009.

This number is disputed by ones that were provided directly from the Clerk of the Court’s office.  Below you can see a chart that illustrates what they say are the successful juvenile expungements over time.

Regardless of the correct number (WBEZs or the Court’s), this is woefully inadequate.  Over 18,000 youth were arrested in Chicago in 2009.  That means that over 18,000 youth in Chicago now have criminal records.  Most of these records would be eligible for expungement.    Yet that process is not keeping up with the need.  We need a systemic response to addressing this issue. A new automatic juvenile expungement law would be the right place to start.

Click on this link to download a copy of the juvenile expungement chart