SEALING ARREST RECORDS

SEALING ARREST RECORDS – DETENTION ONLY  

In any case in which a person is arrested and released and the officer is either (1) satisfied that there are insufficient grounds for making a criminal complaint against the person arrested, or (2) the person was arrested only for being under the influence of a controlled substance or drug and the person is delivered to a facility or hospital for treatment and no further proceedings are desirable and no accusatory pleading is filed charging him with an offense, the person shall be issued a certificate by the law enforcement agency which arrested him describing the action as a detention.  Any reference to the action as an arrest shall be deleted from the arrest records of the arresting agency and of the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation of the Department of Justice. Thereafter, any such record of the action shall refer to it as a detention.

PENAL CODE 851.6 – SEALING OF ARREST RECORD, DETENTION ONLY

(a) In any case in which a person is arrested and released pursuant to paragraph (1) or (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 849, the person shall be issued a certificate, signed by the releasing officer or his superior officer, describing the action as a detention.

(b) In any case in which a person is arrested and released and no accusatory pleading is filed charging him with an offense, the person shall be issued a certificate by the law enforcement agency which arrested him describing the action as a detention.

(c) The Attorney General shall prescribe the form and content of such certificate.

(d) Any reference to the action as an arrest shall be deleted from the arrest records of the arresting agency and of the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation of the Department of Justice. Thereafter, any such record of the action shall refer to it as a detention.

PENAL CODE SECTION 849 – ARREST AND RELEASE

(a) When an arrest is made without a warrant by a peace officer or private person, the person arrested, if not otherwise released, shall, without unnecessary delay, be taken before the nearest or most accessible magistrate in the county in which the offense is triable, and a complaint stating the charge against the arrested person shall be laid before the magistrate.

(b) A peace officer may release from custody, instead of taking the person before a magistrate, a person arrested without a warrant in the following circumstances:

(1) The officer is satisfied that there are insufficient grounds for making a criminal complaint against the person arrested.

(2) The person arrested was arrested for intoxication only, and no further proceedings are desirable.

(3) The person was arrested only for being under the influence of a controlled substance or drug and the person is delivered to a facility or hospital for treatment and no further proceedings are desirable.

(4) The person was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and the person is delivered to a hospital for medical treatment that prohibits immediate delivery before a magistrate.

(c) The record of arrest of a person released pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (3) of subdivision (b) shall include a record of release. Thereafter, the arrest shall not be deemed an arrest, but a detention only.

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