...If you were a juvenile (example 16yoa or under in Texas) at the time of the offense that record should be sealed once you become an adult. Meaning - it's nobody's business. The only way anyone could find out about it is you tell them.... You made a bad decision but move on.
I just wanted to emphasize, as Jcc123 points out above, that the military can see sealed records, and when doing criminal background/security checks they will see them. Always tell the truth. You cannot hide this stuff.
Also, someone should know whereof they speak prior to posting.
kinnem, hey, thanks for the smack down. Obviously honesty is the best policy for the OP but I will try to explain my earlier post.
In Texas your juvenile arrest information is maintained by the Texas DPS and entered into the Juvenile Justice Information System. It is true that this arrest information can be accessed by military investigators but only with the written permission of the juvenile offender. (Texas Family Code) Juvenile law is so restrictive in Texas we can't even write a juvenile a citation anymore. Try to enforce state law on a school campus? Good luck. I remember the days of getting calls from attorneys wanting to know that if their client and my suspect joined the military would I ask the DA's office to drop the charges. That was way before downsizing.
An Austin attorney named Betty Rodriguez has written a very informative piece titled "Joining the military with a juvenile record." Her article and my work experience deals only with Texas.
Aspiringrecruit, lots of good info in this article but the law is obviously different from state to state. Do
your homework. Here's a summary from the article:
In Texas, information regarding a juvenile’s delinquent conduct is entered into the Juvenile Justice Information System (JJIS). The JJIS is a computerized database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety and is the point of entry for juvenile justice information into the FBI Interstate Identification Index (III), a database that stores criminal history record information. JJIS maintains only information relating to delinquent conduct that if committed by an adult would constitute a criminal offense of class B misdemeanor or higher. These records include but are not limited to biographical data, fingerprints, referral history (including the level and degree of the alleged offense), specific information regarding the adjudication and disposition, and a description of each appellate proceeding. The information in JJIS is not public but may be accessed by certain agencies identified by statute. Information can be disseminated to military personnel with permission of the juvenile. DPS may also release information to the military that is restricted with written permission of the juvenile who is applying for enlistment. The information in the JJIS is subject to sealing. Once DPS receives a sealing order, all information is completely removed from the criminal history database. DPS will then send an electronic message to the FBI to have the juvenile’s information removed from the Interstate Identification Index system. DPS will also follow up by sending the FBI a copy of the sealing order. Subsequently, if the military requests records that have been sealed, they will receive notice that no records exist.
Unfortunately for the OP in Texas burglary is higher than a class B misdemeanor
. Actually just about everything in higher than a class B
. But he can still get his records sealed which means nobody can see them.
But here's the catch in Texas. You have to petition the court to seal your record and you have to meet certain criteria to have it done. (No other arrests, no cases pending, two years since the arrest, etc.) If you don't get your record sealed anyone doing a criminal history check will see the arrest. It also means if you are arrested as an adult, say ten years from now your juvenile record will also be seen. Cheap advice, even if the military is not going to happen for you try to protect your future and have the juvenile record sealed.
As I posted earlier, you made a bad decision but move on. And that probably means from the military. Good luck.