2023 California Code › Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC › DIVISION 2 - CHILDREN › PART 1 - DELINQUENTS AND WARDS OF THE JUVENILE COURT › CHAPTER 2 - Juvenile Court Law › ARTICLE 17 - Wards Hearings › Section 676.

676. (a) Unless requested by the minor concerning whom the petition has been filed and any parent or guardian present, the public shall not be admitted to a juvenile court hearing. Nothing in this section shall preclude the attendance of up to two family members of a prosecuting witness for the support of that witness, as authorized by Section 868.5 of the Penal Code. The judge or referee may nevertheless admit those persons he or she deems to have a direct and legitimate interest in the particular case or the work of the court. However, except as provided in subdivision (b), members of the public shall be admitted, on the same basis as they may be admitted to trials in a court of criminal jurisdiction, to hearings concerning petitions filed pursuant to Section 602 alleging that a minor is a person described in Section 602 by reason of the violation of any one of the following offenses:
(1) Murder.
(2) Arson of an inhabited building.
(3) Robbery while armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon.
(4) Rape with force or violence, threat of great bodily harm, or when the person is prevented from resisting due to being rendered unconscious by any intoxicating, anesthetizing, or controlled substance, or when the victim is at the time incapable, because of a disability, of giving consent, and this is known or reasonably should be known to the person committing the offense.
(5) Sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, threat of great bodily harm, or when the person is prevented from resisting due to being rendered unconscious by any intoxicating, anesthetizing, or controlled substance, or when the victim is at the time incapable, because of a disability, of giving consent, and this is known or reasonably should be known to the person committing the offense.
(6) Oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, threat of great bodily harm, or when the person is prevented from resisting due to being rendered unconscious by any intoxicating, anesthetizing, or controlled substance, or when the victim is at the time incapable, because of a disability, of giving consent, and this is known or reasonably should be known to the person committing the offense.
(7) Any offense specified in subdivision (a) or (e) of Section 289 of the Penal Code.
(8) Kidnapping for ransom.
(9) Kidnapping for purpose of robbery.
(10) Kidnapping with bodily harm.
(11) Assault with intent to murder or attempted murder.
(12) Assault with a firearm or destructive device.
(13) Assault by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.
(14) Discharge of a firearm into an inhabited dwelling or occupied building.
(15) Any offense described in Section 1203.09 of the Penal Code.
(16) Any offense described in Section 12022.5 or 12022.53 of the Penal Code.
(17) Any felony offense in which a minor personally used a weapon described in any provision listed in Section 16590 of the Penal Code.
(18) Burglary of an inhabited dwelling house or trailer coach, as defined in Section 635 of the Vehicle Code, or the inhabited portion of any other building, if the minor previously has been adjudged a ward of the court by reason of the commission of any offense listed in this section, including an offense listed in this paragraph.
(19) Any felony offense described in Section 136.1 or 137 of the Penal Code.
(20) Any offense as specified in Sections 11351, 11351.5, 11352, 11378, 11378.5, 11379, and 11379.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(21) Criminal street gang activity which constitutes a felony pursuant to Section 186.22 of the Penal Code.
(22) Manslaughter as specified in Section 192 of the Penal Code.
(23) Driveby shooting or discharge of a weapon from or at a motor vehicle as specified in Sections 246, 247, and 26100 of the Penal Code.
(24) Any crime committed with an assault weapon, as defined in Section 30510 of the Penal Code, including possession of an assault weapon as specified in Section 30605 of the Penal Code.
(25) Carjacking, while armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon.
(26) Kidnapping, in violation of Section 209.5 of the Penal Code.
(27) Torture, as described in Sections 206 and 206.1 of the Penal Code.
(28) Aggravated mayhem, in violation of Section 205 of the Penal Code.
(b) Where the petition filed alleges that the minor is a person described in Section 602 by reason of the commission of rape with force or violence or great bodily harm; sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, threat of great bodily harm, or when the person is prevented from resisting by any intoxicating, anesthetizing, or controlled substance, or when the victim is at the time incapable, because of mental disorder or developmental or physical disability, of giving consent, and this is known or reasonably should be known to the person committing the offense; oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, threat of great bodily harm, or when the person is prevented from resisting by any intoxicating, anesthetizing, or controlled substance, or when the victim is at the time incapable, because of mental disorder or developmental or physical disability, of giving consent, and this is known or reasonably should be known to the person committing the offense; any offense specified in Section 289 of the Penal Code, members of the public shall not be admitted to the hearing in either of the following instances:
(1) Upon a motion for a closed hearing by the district attorney, who shall make the motion if so requested by the victim.
(2) During the victim’s testimony, if, at the time of the offense the victim was under 16 years of age.
(c) The name of a minor found to have committed one of the offenses listed in subdivision (a) shall not be confidential, unless the court, for good cause, so orders. As used in this subdivision, “good cause” shall be limited to protecting the personal safety of the minor, a victim, or a member of the public. The court shall make a written finding, on the record, explaining why good cause exists to make the name of the minor confidential.
(d) Notwithstanding Sections 827 and 828 and subject to subdivisions (e) and (f), when a petition is sustained for any offense listed in subdivision (a), the charging petition, the minutes of the proceeding, and the orders of adjudication and disposition of the court that are contained in the court file shall be available for public inspection. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to authorize public access to any other documents in the court file.
(e) The probation officer or any party may petition the juvenile court to prohibit disclosure to the public of any file or record. The juvenile court shall prohibit the disclosure if it appears that the harm to the minor, victims, witnesses, or public from the public disclosure outweighs the benefit of public knowledge. However, the court shall not prohibit disclosure for the benefit of the minor unless the court makes a written finding that the reason for the prohibition is to protect the safety of the minor.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be applied to limit the disclosure of information as otherwise provided for by law.
(g) The juvenile court shall for each day that the court is in session, post in a conspicuous place which is accessible to the general public, a written list of hearings that are open to the general public pursuant to this section, the location of those hearings, and the time when the hearings will be held.
(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 919, Sec. 2. (SB 838) Effective January 1, 2015. Note: This section was amended on March 7, 2000, by initiative Prop. 21.)