{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-610.320","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 610.320","heading":"Juvenile record and juvenile docket -- Disclosure of information in court","body":"and police records concerning juvenile prohibited -- Exceptions -- Use of\njuvenile records in court.\n(1) A special record book shall be kept by the court for all cases, to be kn own as the\n\"juvenile record,\" and the docket or calendar of such cases shall be called the\n\"juvenile docket.\"\n(2) No probation officer, nor employee of a probation officer, shall, without the consent\nof the District Judge sitting in juvenile session, divul ge or communicate to any\npersons other than the court, law enforcement, the Department of Juvenile Justice,\nan officer of the court interested in the case, a member of the advisory board of the\ncourt, or a representative of the cabinet, any information obt ained pursuant to the\ndischarge of his duties, nor shall any record of the action of the probation officer be\nmade public except by leave of the District Judge; provided, that nothing in this\nsubsection shall prohibit the probation officer from divulging o r communicating\nsuch information to the court, to his colleagues or superiors in his own department,\nor to another probation officer having a direct interest in the record or social history\nof the child.\n(3) All law enforcement and court records regarding children who have not reached\ntheir eighteenth birthday shall not be opened to scrutiny by the public, except that a\nseparate public record shall be kept by the clerk of the court which shall be\naccessible to the public for court records, limited to the pe tition, order of the\nadjudication, and disposition in juvenile delinquency proceedings concerning a\nchild who is fourteen (14) years of age or older at the time of the commission of the\noffense, and who is adjudicated a juvenile delinquent for the commissi on of an\noffense that would constitute a capital offense or a Class A, B, or C felony if the\njuvenile were an adult, or any offense involving a deadly weapon, or an offense\nwherein a deadly weapon is used or displayed.\n(4) Release of the child's treatment,  medical, mental, or psychological records is\nprohibited unless presented as evidence in Circuit Court. Release of any records\nresulting from the child's prior abuse and neglect under Title IV -E or Title IV-B of\nthe Federal Social Security Act is also proh ibited. Otherwise, the law enforcement\nrecords shall be made available to the child, family, guardian, or legal representative\nof the child involved. The records shall also be made available to the court,\nprobation officers, prosecutors, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and law\nenforcement agencies or representatives of the cabinet. Records, limited to the\nchild's adjudication of delinquency, and disposition of a criminal activity covered by\nKRS 610.345, shall also be made available to public or private elementary and\nsecondary school administrative, transportation, and counseling personnel, and to\nany teacher to whose class the student has been assigned for instruction, subject to\nthe provisions of KRS 610.340 and 610.345.\n(5) Subject to the Kentucky Rul es of Evidence, juvenile court records of adjudications\nof guilt of a child for an offense which would be a felony if committed by an adult\nshall be admissible in court at any time the child is tried as an adult, or after the\nchild becomes an adult, at any subsequent criminal trial relating to that same person.\nJuvenile court records made available pursuant to this section may be used for\nimpeachment purposes during a criminal trial, and may be used during the\nsentencing phase of a criminal trial. However, the fact that a juvenile has been\nadjudicated delinquent of an offense which would be a felony if the child had been\nan adult shall not be used in finding the child to be a persistent felony offender\nbased upon that adjudication.\n(6) This section shall not  relieve the probation officer or peace officer from divulging\nsuch facts as a witness in a trial or hearing involving any cases falling under KRS\nChapters 600 to 645 or the production of juvenile records for use in the trial or\nproceedings.\n(7) This section shall not prohibit release of information regarding juvenile proceedings\nin the District Court which do not reveal the identity of the child or its parents or\nguardians, or which relate to the child's eligibility for services under Title IV -E or\nIV-B of the Federal Social Security Act. Release of the child's treatment, medical,\nmental, or psychological records is prohibited unless presented as evidence in\nCircuit Court.","path":["KRS Chapter 610"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=20169","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T21:00:07Z","sha256":"0239434da922c3c22984379480e754d759b948c31419ad086bc0e5eb37cb25a4","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-610.310","next":"us-ky/krs-610.330"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}