Community Defender Division

Community Defender Division

Defending fairness for all by supporting successful reentry.

When our clients’ lives intersect with the criminal and juvenile legal system, they face challenging obstacles. The Community Defender Division (CDD) works to help our clients in the District—both adults and children—face their legal difficulties that stem from prior arrests, convictions, and incarceration.

Innovative programs designed to help make sense of the complex legal systems.

These cutting-edge programs provide comprehensive legal services to clients who are impacted by their criminal or juvenile records. Our doors are open to anyone who is struggling to make sense of the challenges of D.C.'s complex legal systems. We encourage individuals to visit our office in order to meet with our staff and learn more about the resources we can provide.

In our Prisoner & Reentry Legal Services Program, clients may seek representation for a range of issues, including:

Criminal records
Employment
Background
Checks
Child Support
Parole
Prisoners' Rights

In our Juvenile Services Program, children may seek assistance regarding issues, including:

their rights after they are committed
their rights while they are detained
their rights while placed out of their homes

JSP also offers a Hotline for youth to call at the Youth Services Center at (202) 528-5430.

FAQs

Adults
- Individuals who are incarcerated in at the DC Jail, the Correctional Treatment Facility (CTF) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
- Returning Citizens (recently returning to the District from a period of incarceration)
- Individuals with Criminal/Arrest Records
- Individuals seeking information about how to access services despite criminal/arrest records
Juveniles
- Detained Youth (YSC)
- Committed Youth (community or at home placements, group homes, New Beginnings Youth Development Center, and residential treatment centers)
Family Members
- We are happy to answer questions and provide assistance to family members, especially family members of incarcerated individuals. Please note that client confidentiality prevents us from sharing information unless the client gives us permission to do so.
Criminal/Juvenile Justice Professionals
- Judges
- Attorneys
- Probation Officers
- Court Supervision Officers
- Social Workers
- Case Managers
We provide legal representation for individuals seeking to remove the barriers to successful lives after being involved in the legal system.

Adults
- Reentry Legal Services
- Record Sealing (temporarily suspended)
- Parole Matters including Parole Release Hearings and Early Termination of Parole/Supervised Release Hearings
- Disciplinary Hearings at the DC Jail and the Correctional Treatment Facility (CTF)
- Prisoners’ Rights for individuals incarcerated in the DC Jail, CTF and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
- Social Service Referrals
Juveniles
- Community Status Review Hearing Representation (when the Department of Youth Rehabilitation wants to move a committed youth to a more secure placement)
- Disciplinary Hearing Representation (when youths at YSC and New Beginnings are charged with breaking the rules)
- Conditions of Confinement
- Post-Commitment Advocacy
- Social Service Referrals
Adults
Community members are encouraged to call our office for intake at 202.824.2801. People who are incarcerated are encouraged to write to CDD so that our staff will have all necessary information and so that we can establish contact at the relevant BOP facility.

Adult Callers: Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Youth
Youth are encouraged to call the PDS Juvenile Services Program (JSP) hotline at 202.528.5430. The hotline is available to the children at the Youth Services Center (YSC) and the New Beginnings Youth Development Center. Youth and families may also call the JSP office at YSC at 202.576.8368 or the JSP office at New Beginnings at 202.299.3132/202.299.3223.

Juvenile Callers: Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Adults
Community Defender Division
1442 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 824-2801
1 (800) 341-2582

Juveniles
Community Defender Division
1442 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 824-2801
1 (800) 341-2582

Youth Services Center (YSC)
1000 Mount Olivet Road, NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 576-8368

New Beginnings Youth Development Center
8400 River Road
Laurel, MD 20724
(202) 299-3223 or (202) 299-3132
The time varies depending on the individual case and the Court’s schedule. After the initial filing of a Motion to Seal, the US Attorney’s Office will be given an opportunity to respond. The Court will consider the movant’s Motion to Seal, the Government’s response, and any additional pleadings before making a decision.
You should get copies of your (1) MPD Arrest History Report for Purposes of the Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2006 AND (2) Court record BEFORE filing.

1. Police Record

a. You will need to bring:
- A valid ID (such as a Driver’s License)
- $7.00 cash or money order to pay for the record, AND
- Your social security number
b. Go to the:
Record Information Desk
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD)
300 Indiana Avenue, NW
Criminal History Section, Room 1075 (On the 1st Floor)
Mon-Fri 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

c. Stop at the desk and show valid identification to receive a payment slip.

d. Take the payment slip to room 1140B on the 1st Floor to pay the $7 charge. You will receive a receipt that says that you have paid.

e. Go back to the desk on the 1st Floor and show your paid receipt and ID to receive a MPD Arrest History Report Form for Purposes of the Criminal Record Sealng Act of 2006.

f. Complete the MPD Arrest History Report Form for Purposes of the Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2006 in all of the spaces marked with a dot, as instructed.

g. Go to the service window down the hallway. The clerk will check your identification and take your receipt and MPD Arrest History Report Form for Purposes of the Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2006 form.

h. Move away from the service window; your name will be called when your MPD Arrest History Report is ready. The clerk will give you a copy of your MPD Arrest History Report. HOLD ONTO THIS FORM. You will need it to determine your eligibility to file a motion to seal your arrest record. Because it may contain information that is not otherwise public, you probably do not want to attach it to your motion to seal, which will be filed in public court records. If you do attach it to your motion to seal, ask the court to put your motion “under seal.”

NOTE: The purpose of the MPD Arrest History Report for Purposes of the Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2006 is to determine if you are eligible to file a motion to seal your record. this report shows all your arrests, non-convictions, and convictions. This document will contain arrests that may not appear in the Court’s criminal information database or in what is commonly referred to as the PD 70 or police clearance. The PD 70 or a Police Clearance obtained from MPD only shows D.C. arrests from the past ten years and only arrests that resulted in a conviction or a forfeiture (like a post-and-forfeit case). Simply because you do not see an arrest on the PD 70 does not mean that the record has been sealed. (See Frequently Asked Question 2.) If you know you have D.C. arrests that are not listed on the MPD Arrest History Report for Purposes of the Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2006 or the PD 70, you must still include them in your motion so that you are moving to seal all of your arrests at the same time, as the law requires. If you do not, your motion will be “dismissed without prejudice” by the court and you will have to start the process over.

2. Court Record

a. Go to the:
Clerk’s Information Office
Criminal Records Division
D.C. Superior Court, Room 4001 (on the 4th floor)
500 Indiana Avenue, N.W.
(202) 879-1451
Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

To obtain the information needed to complete the Motion to Seal Records:
- Give your name and birth date to the Clerk and request your entire Superior Court criminal record; OR
- Enter your name into the Court View software on the computers in Room 4001 to search for your records.
If the case does NOT have a number (usually because if it is a No Paper or Post & Forfeit), ask the clerk to assign you a case number to use in your Motion to Seal. You MUST have a case number in order to file.