criminal-law minor criminal-record
Crime records as a minor, does it affect sentencing as an adult?
<p>Are crimes as minor, especially felonies, kept in your records? And would they affect your sentencing as an adult?</p>
<p>I am not asking about a specific jurisdiction, I just want to have a general idea.</p>

<p>As pointed out in comments, the exact answer depends on the jurisdiction, and on the nature of the crime(s).</p>
<p>As a general statement:</p>
<ul>
<li>In many jurisdictions, old criminal records are sealed (=made less available), or even completely deleted after some time. The timespan will depend on many factors, particularly (but not only) on the number and severity of the crimes. Extremely serious crimes may never be sealed/deleted. Sometimes the sealing/deletion may be automatic, sometimes only at the request of the perpetrator, and there may be additional conditions.</li>
<li>As an extension of the above, some jurisdictions have special rules for criminal records created while the perpetrator was a minor. Some time spans may be shortened, or minor crimes may be excluded.</li>
</ul>
<p>So, to directly answer the question:</p>
<p><strong>Yes, crimes as minor <em>may</em> be kept in your records and influence sentencing as an adult, or they may not - it depends.</strong></p>
<p>That is about all you can say in general.</p>
