A juvenile record does not have to affect your child's future. Most state and federal statutes provide that juvenile records may be erased once the child reaches a certain age. The laws differ among the states, with some states providing for mandatory erasure, and others allowing erasure only after petition. Generally, a juvenile record can be expunged once the child reaches the age of majority. Your attorney can advise you of the procedure in your state. If the juvenile judge decides that a child should be tried as an adult, and the child is convicted, there's generally no opportunity for subsequent removal of the record. In cases tried in juvenile court, particularly those in which the punishment is not serious, there's generally the opportunity to have the criminal record removed at a later stage. However, there are some notable exceptions. For example, Immigration and Naturalization Services (I-N-S) has ruled that expunged criminal records may be used in immigration cases, for example in naturalization investigations. In addition, while the child is still a juvenile, his or her criminal record is still in existence, and if the offender is charged with a repeat offense, particularly of a felony, he or she may risk being tried as an adult. The removal of juvenile criminal records is becoming controversial, partly due to the changing nature and increasing seriousness of juvenile crime. As long as the present statutes remain unchanged, a convicted child may have the opportunity to begin adult life with a clean slate, but there's no guarantee that this will remain the case.