Governor JB Pritzker signed into law Senate Bill 3463, an amendment to the Juvenile Court Act, which creates a clear process for implementation of already existing juvenile expungement laws. SB 3463 is intended to automatically schedule expungement hearing date for juveniles. Additionally, eligible juvenile records can now be expunged two years after a sentence ends, to allow the court to schedule the expungement date when the sentence ends or when a young person is sent to the Department of Juvenile Justice. This will allow both greater flexibility and more accuracy, so that the judge has the most up to date information about the young person’s future eligibility upon setting a court date. This will reduce the likelihood of multiple court dates having to be scheduled. Under current law, courts are required to automatically order expungement in certain juvenile cases, but statute does not require that the order is automatically put on the call, meaning that the juvenile must proactively follow a complicated process two years after their case has been adjudicated. After a case had been adjudicated and the sentence completed, the juvenile may not know or remember to seek expungement. As a result, they may no longer have representation. It is also possible that the individual may get a job that is not impacted by the adjudicated delinquent status and move forward. Illinois now joins 22 other states with laws that automatically seal or expunge juvenile records in certain circumstances. SB 3463 is effective January 1, 2025.