{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-610.340","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 610.340","heading":"Confidentiality of juvenile court records.","body":"(1) (a) Unless a specific provision of KRS Chapters 600 to 645 specifies otherwise,\nall juvenile court records of any nature generated pursuant to KRS Chapters\n600 to 645 by any agency or instrumentality, public or private, shall be\ndeemed to be confidential and s hall not be disclosed except to the child,\nparent, victims, or other persons authorized to attend a juvenile court hearing\npursuant to KRS 610.070 unless ordered by the court for good cause.\n(b) Juvenile court records which contain information pertaining t o arrests,\npetitions, adjudications, and dispositions of a child may be disclosed to\nvictims or other persons authorized to attend a juvenile court hearing pursuant\nto KRS 610.070.\n(c) Release of the child's treatment, medical, mental, or psychological rec ords is\nprohibited unless presented as evidence in Circuit Court. Any records\nresulting from the child's prior abuse and neglect under Title IV-E or Title IV-\nB of the Federal Social Security Act shall not be disclosed to victims or other\npersons authorized  to attend a juvenile court hearing pursuant to KRS\n610.070.\n(d) Victim access under this subsection to juvenile court records shall include\naccess to records of adjudications that occurred prior to July 15, 1998.\n(2) The provisions of this section shall n ot apply to public officers or employees\nengaged in the investigation of and in the prosecution of cases under KRS Chapters\n600 to 645 or other portions of the Kentucky Revised Statutes. Any record obtained\npursuant to this subsection shall be used for off icial use only, shall not be disclosed\npublicly, and shall be exempt from disclosure under the Open Records Act, KRS\n61.870 to 61.884.\n(3) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any peace officer, as defined in\nKRS 446.010, who is engaged in the  investigation or prosecution of cases under\nKRS Chapters 600 to 645 or other portions of the Kentucky Revised Statutes. Any\nrecord obtained pursuant to this subsection shall be used for official use only, shall\nnot be disclosed publicly, and shall be exem pt from disclosure under the Open\nRecords Act, KRS 61.870 to 61.884.\n(4) The provisions of this section shall not apply to employees of the Department of\nJuvenile Justice or cabinet or its designees responsible for any services under KRS\nChapters 600 to 64 5 or to attorneys for parties involved in actions relating to KRS\nChapters 600 to 645 or other prosecutions authorized by the Kentucky Revised\nStatutes.\n(5) The provisions of this section shall not apply to records disclosed pursuant to KRS\n610.320 or to p ublic or private elementary and secondary school administrative,\ntransportation, and counseling personnel, to any teacher or school employee with\nwhom the student may come in contact, or to persons entitled to have juvenile\nrecords under KRS 610.345, if th e possession and use of the records is in\ncompliance with the provisions of KRS 610.345 and this section.\n(6) The provisions of this section shall not apply to employees of local law\nenforcement agencies, the Department of Kentucky State Police, or the Federal\nBureau of Investigation engaged in conducting background checks for the sole\npurpose of identifying and p roviding potentially disqualifying juvenile public\noffense records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System\npursuant to Div. A, Title II, Sec. 12001(a) of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,\nPub. L. No. 117 -159. Notwithstanding KRS 635.04 0, an adjudication for a public\noffense is a conviction of a crime for purposes of 18 U.S.C. sec. 922(d)(1), (3), or\n(9). Any public offense record obtained pursuant to this subsection shall be used for\nofficial use only, not be disclosed publicly, and be exempt from disclosure under\nthe Open Records Act, KRS 61.870 to 61.884.\n(7) The provisions of this section shall not apply to criminal justice agencies\nconducting a basic suitability or fitness assessment for federal or contractor\nemployees under 5 U.S.C. sec. 9101 in accordance with KRS 17.162.\n(8) (a) The provisions of this section shall not apply to records or proceedings in any\ncase in which a child has made an admission to or been adjudicated for a\nviolent felony offense as defined in KRS 532.200 unti l the expiration of a\nthree (3) year period from the date of admission or adjudication.\n(b) If the child has not received any additional public offense convictions during\nthe three (3) year period from the date of admission or adjudication, all\nrecords in the case shall be automatically sealed and shall not be disclosed\nconsistent with the provisions of this section.\n(c) As used in this subsection, \"admission\" means a formal admission in a case,\non the record, upon the waiving of an adjudication hearing.\n(9) A person, including school personnel, shall not disclose any confidential record or\nany information contained therein except as permitted by this section or other\nspecific section of KRS Chapters 600 to 645, or except as permitted by specific\norder of the court.\n(10) A person, including school personnel, authorized to obtain records pursuant to KRS\nChapters 600 to 645 shall not obtain or attempt to obtain confidential records to\nwhich he or she is not entitled or for purposes for which he or she is not pe rmitted\nto obtain them pursuant to KRS Chapters 600 to 645.\n(11) A person, including school personnel, not authorized to obtain records pursuant to\nKRS Chapters 600 to 645 shall not obtain or attempt to obtain records which are\nmade confidential pursuant to KRS Chapters 600 to 645 except upon proper motion\nto a court of competent jurisdiction.\n(12) A person shall not destroy or attempt to destroy any record required to be kept\npursuant to KRS Chapters 600 to 645 unless the destruction is permitted pursuant to\nKRS Chapters 600 to 645 and is authorized by the court upon proper motion and\ngood cause for the destruction being shown.\n(13) As used in this section the term \"KRS Chapters 600 to 645\" includes any\nadministrative regulations which are lawfully promulga ted pursuant to KRS\nChapters 600 to 645.\n(14) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a crime victim from speaking\npublicly after the adjudication about his or her case on matters within his or her\nknowledge or on matters disclosed to the vi ctim during any aspect of a juvenile\ncourt proceeding.","path":["KRS Chapter 610"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57315","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T21:00:07Z","sha256":"ff51a6fb702f3aaa1252dee93d3c52e764dbae2e706ed71c31e23da42c9eea0c","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-610.330","next":"us-ky/krs-610.342"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}