LA GRANDE — A law out of the 2021 Oregon Legislature now is taking effect and will automatically expunge juvenile arrest records of everyone who turns 18.

Senate Bill 575, otherwise known as the Youth Expunction Reform Act, saw wide support in both chambers, passing the Senate 26-3 and the House 54-1. Gov. Kate Brown signed the bill in July and it went into effect Sept. 25.

The new law applies only to people who were arrested as youths but not convicted. The law does not apply retroactively to people whose 18th birthday took place prior to 2022, though those people may still submit an application for their arrest records to be expunged. People convicted as youths may apply for expungement under the existing application process.

“Choices have consequences. Lord knows I made (mistakes) when I was a kid that had some pretty negative consequences,” Union County Sheriff Cody Bowen said. “But I don’t think they should be held over a kid’s head. Once they learn from their mistake and pay for the consequences, if they turn 18 and it goes away, I’m all for that.”

Bowen in his youth was cited for disorderly conduct. A framed record of that 1993 citation hangs in his office as a reminder that people can change course in life.

He said most juvenile criminal cases can be addressed through education, structure and consequence at the home. If the home life of a juvenile does not provide those elements, then the juvenile department can provide them, he said. Bowen noted some serious crimes, such as those that victimize a person, should carry a sentence for a considerable amount of time, if not life in certain circumstances.

The new law does not affect records relating to serious crimes such as assault, manslaughter and other violent or sexual crimes. It also does not affect education transcripts or medical records not related to insanity pleas. Those records will remain with the juvenile department and are exempt from expungement.

Under the new law, people with prior arrest records that are expunged will be able to say the arrest never happened without having to file paperwork with the juvenile department. However, they still will have records for any federal-level arrests, which operate on a different system.

That distinction is important for individuals in the system if they seek careers with exhaustive background checks, such as public service, military or security clearance investigations. They also may face challenges when filling out a rental application.

“I think it’s great for kids to be able to do this because a lot of them grow up and forget the original records,” said Digna Moreno, Umatilla County Juvenile Division supervisor. “And so I think it’s great that we’re able to do this for them. Some of them want to enlist in the service and sometimes their records may get in the way. So with it being automatic, it helps the process.”

Sgt. Kyle Conner of the Bend Marines Corps recruiting office said he advises recruits to disclose everything. He tells them it’s a lesson he had to learn personally when he joined.

“I had a thing and not being very familiar with the military at the time, I didn’t think it’d pop up. And the recruiter found it,” he said. “So that’s one thing I tell everybody: even if you got it expunged, it definitely will still show up.”

It’s not uncommon that a recruit will have a blemish or two on his record, Conner said. The Marines typically don’t take people with felonies on their record, though, ultimately, it comes down to the individual, he said.

Conner puts it to young people in terms of green and red weights. The green represents all the good things a person has done in their life — community service, good grades, etc. — and the red stands in for problems like arrests.

“We just want the green weights to outweigh the red weights,” he said.

Moreno said the new law will increase the amount of work for her department, but that it won’t be a bother.

“It’s a little bit more time consuming, but I think it’s also great for the kids when they come into our system when they see they have this opportunity for the record to be destroyed at the age of 18,” Moreno said. “It gives them a huge carrot to work toward completing their conditions of supervision, being successful and staying out of legal trouble.”

According to a supporting testimony to the bill, a comprehensive analysis conducted by the Oregon Juvenile Department Directors’ Association showed the cost of this legislation will be $1.35 million annually.

“If a kid recognizes the error of his ways and grows up out of it,” Bowen said, “then by all means, have a clean slate when you become an adult.”

— Reporting from Garrett Andrews with The Bulletin in Bend contributed to this article.