Confidentiality-The state of being secret; "you must respect the confidentiality of your client's communications.
Sealed-Closed or secured with or as if with a seal; "my lips are sealed"; "the package is still sealed"; "the premises are sealed.
Juvenile proceedings conducted under Chapter 49 of the West Virginia Code are not
Public proceedings. Additionally, the records of these proceedings are not open for
Public inspection. Disclosure of juvenile records is not permitted, unless specifically
Authorized pursuant to West Virginia Code §§ 49-5-17(b) or 49-7-1. Provided, however,
In the interest of assuring that any determination made in proceedings before a family
Court arising under West Virginia Code, Chapter 48, or West Virginia Code § 44-10-3,
Does not contravene any determination made by a circuit court in a prior or pending
Juvenile proceeding, family courts and staff shall have access to all circuit court orders
And case indexes in this State in all juvenile proceedings.
The records of juveniles charged with a delinquency or status offense
should not follow the juvenile for the rest of his or her life. These records are sealed by
the court to protect the rights of the juvenile when they reach adulthood. The records of
juvenile proceedings conducted under Chapter 49 of the West Virginia Code should be
sealed: one year after the juvenile's 18th birthday, or one year after personal or juvenile jurisdiction of the court is terminated, whichever is later. The records of a juvenile proceeding transferred to criminal jurisdiction are open to the public. Provided,
these records should be sealed under the following circumstances: the juvenile is acquitted; the juvenile is found guilty of an offense other than offense upon which the waiver or order of transfer was granted; or the offense upon which the waiver or order of transfer was granted is subsequently dismissed. Effect. When the record of a juvenile proceeding is sealed by the court it has the legal effect of extinguishing the offense as if it never occurred. Once the record of a juvenile is sealed, it may only be opened by order of the circuit court. To seal juvenile records, they should be returned to the circuit clerk to be kept in a confidential and sealed file, marked as sealed and stored in a secure location accessible only by clerk staff.

Curtis J