Opinion ID: 1401752
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: State v. T.K T.K. pleaded guilty to first degree child molestation in March 1993. The prosecutor recommended, and the court imposed, treatment under a special sex offender disposition alternative (SSODA). At that time, RCW 13.50.050(10) and (11) permitted juvenile offenders to petition the court to vacate disposition orders and to permanently seal juvenile court files two years after the juvenile was discharged from state agency supervision. If the juvenile had committed no other offenses, that statute required the juvenile court to grant the motion to vacate and seal. T.K. completed the requirements of his SSODA in April 1995. In 1996, he petitioned the juvenile court to vacate his duty to register his residential address under the sex offender registration statute, RCW 9A.44.140(4). The court found the defendant met the demands of the statute and entered an order ending the registration requirement. T.K. did not, however, move to have his disposition orders vacated or his conviction records sealed under RCW 13.50.050. In 1997, the Legislature amended RCW 13.50.050(11) to require sealing under subsection (10) only if the moving party has spent 10 consecutive years in the community without committing any additional offenses in the case of a Class B felony and 5 years for a Class C felony conviction. It also eliminated sealing altogether if the original offense was a sex offense or a class A felony. Laws of 1997, ch. 338, § 40. The effective date of the amendments was July 1, 1997. Laws of 1997, ch. 338, § 75. In October 1997, T.K. moved the court to order the Washington State Patrol to expunge the record of his juvenile court conviction. The court denied the motion based on the 1997 amendments to RCW 13.50.050. The Court of Appeals, Division I, held that the 1997 amendments could not divest T.K. of the right to have his records sealed because he satisfied all of the requirements for expungement under the pre-1997 version of the statute. The court therefore reversed and remanded with directions that T.K.'s records be expunged. State v. D.V. While trick-or-treating on Halloween night in 1992, D.V. forcibly took bags of candy from other teenagers. D.V. pleaded guilty to two counts of second degree robbery. The court entered its disposition order in November 1993. [1] On July 14, 1998, D.V. filed a motion to seal the juvenile court records under his juvenile court cause number pursuant to RCW 13.50.050. The trial court found he had met the requirements of RCW 13.50.050 prior to the 1997 amendments. Therefore, the court held that D.V. had a right to have his records sealed under the former statute and issued an order to the Washington State Patrol to seal the records. The State Patrol notified D.V.'s attorney that it declined to comply with the order as it had not been notified of the motion and was not a party to the proceedings. D.V. then re-noted his motion and sent notice of the hearing to the State Patrol. At the second hearing the judge again ordered the State Patrol to seal D.V.'s records because he had become eligible for expungement prior to the 1997 amendments. The State Patrol appealed directly to this Court. State v. C.C. C.C. pleaded guilty to the charge of rape of a child in the first degree in 1991. In September 1998, C.C. filed a motion to seal his juvenile records. The trial court granted the motion and entered an order sealing the juvenile records. The State Patrol appealed directly to this Court. These three cases have been consolidated for review by this Court.