The Impact of Criminal History Record Sealing on National Recidivism Estimates

• In Event: Exploring the Adult Trajectories of Juvenile Offenders Processed In New York Criminal Courts

Abstract

The accuracy of recidivism estimates hinges on the completeness and reliability of official criminal history records. Efforts to characterize the nature of criminal careers and to generate valid estimates of recidivism are complicated by state differences in criminal history reporting procedures and state laws and policies that impact the release of arrest information. Using a cohort of all youth arrested in New York at age 16 or 17 in 2001, we follow their official criminal histories for 10 years to examine how one particular type of state policy in the state of New York—the sealing of criminal records- impacts estimates of both the number of times a person is arrested as well as the degree to which offenders specialize in certain types of offenses. The results of the analyses have implications for national recidivism estimates as they address the need to assess state-specific recording and reporting practices that may impact national recidivism estimates and highlight a need for error correction terms for use when comparing New York rap sheets to those of other states that do not allow for the widespread sealing of criminal history records.

Authors

• Kimberly Martin, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice

• Matthew Durose, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice

• Megan Kurlychek, University at Albany, SUNY