2023 Delaware Code › Title 10 - Courts and Judicial Procedure › Chapter 9. THE FAMILY COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE › Subchapter III. Procedure › § 1018. Discretionary expungement.

§ 1018. Discretionary expungement.
(a) The Family Court may grant a petition for expungement if the petitioner has no prohibitions pursuant to § 1015(b) of this title and the person's juvenile criminal history contains 1 of the following:
(1) [Repealed.]
(2) A single case that resulted in an adjudication of delinquency for a “misdemeanor sex offense” or “violent felony,” as those terms are defined in § 1016 of this title, and at least 3 years have passed since adjudication.
(3) No more than 1 case which resulted in adjudication of delinquency for a felony sex offense and at least 5 years have passed since adjudication.
(4) Multiple adjudications for cases, excepting Title 11 violent felonies and felony sex offenses, and at least 5 years have passed since the last adjudication.
(5) Multiple adjudications for cases, that include Title 11 violent felonies and felony sex offenses, and at least 7 years have passed since the last adjudication.
(b) The petitioner shall cause a copy of any petition for discretionary expungement filed under this section to be served upon the Attorney General's office, who may file an objection or answer to the petition within 30 days thereafter.
(c) Upon receipt of any petition for discretionary expungement that involves a violent felony not terminated in favor of the child, the Attorney General's office shall contact the victim(s) of the violent felony at the victim's last known address or telephone number to ascertain the victim's position on the petition for expungement. The victim's position, if known, shall be stated in the Attorney General's answer to the petition.
(d) Unless the Court believes a hearing is necessary and upon consideration and review of any comments or objections received from victim(s) pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, petitions filed pursuant to this section shall be disposed of without a hearing. If the Court finds that the continued existence and possible dissemination of information relating to the arrest of the petitioner causes, or may cause, circumstances which constitute a manifest injustice to the petitioner, it shall enter an order requiring the expungement of the police and court records and all other indicia of arrest, including any electronic records, relating to the charge or case. Otherwise, it shall deny the petition. Although the Court will recognize a rebuttable presumption that juvenile records cause a manifest injustice for the petitioner, the burden shall nevertheless be on the petitioner to allege specific facts in support of that petitioner's allegation of manifest injustice, and the burden shall be on the petitioner to prove such manifest injustice by a preponderance of the evidence.
(e) The Attorney General's office shall be made party defendant to a proceeding for discretionary expungement. Any party aggrieved by the decision of the Court may appeal, as prescribed by Delaware law.
(f) Notwithstanding any provision of this subchapter or any other statute or rule to the contrary, the Attorney General or the Attorney General's designee responsible for prosecuting a delinquency action may petition the Court to expunge the instant arrest record of a child if, at the time of a state motion to dismiss or entry of a nolle prosequi in the case, the State has determined that the continued existence and possible dissemination of information relating to the arrest of the child for the matter dismissed, or for which a nolle prosequi was entered, may cause circumstances which constitute a manifest injustice to the juvenile.
(g) For purposes of determining eligibility for expungement under this section, any charge that is 7 or more years old and for which there is no disposition indicated or the disposition is listed as unknown, unobtainable, or pending shall be considered dismissed and shall not negatively affect expungement eligibility. This subsection does not apply if there is an active warrant in the case or if there is documented case activity within the last 12 months.
(h) [Repealed.]
78 Del. Laws, c. 188, §  2;  78 Del. Laws, c. 252, §  4;  78 Del. Laws, c. 343, §  4;  80 Del. Laws, c. 36, §  1;  80 Del. Laws, c. 414, § 1;  81 Del. Laws, c. 42, § 1;  83 Del. Laws, c. 266, § 4;  83 Del. Laws, c. 418, § 2;