Community Defender Division

• 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 (temporarily suspended criminal record sealing services)
  • 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

• Adults

  We provide legal representation for individuals seeking to remove the barriers to successful lives after being involved in the criminal justice system.

  • 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 a telephone consultation.  Incarcerated clients are encouraged to write to CDD so that our staff will have all necessary information and so that we can establish contact via a legal call at the relevant BOP facility.

  • Adult Walk-Ins: Suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
  • Adult Callers: Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Juveniles

  Juveniles are encouraged to call the PDS Juvenile Services Program (JSP) hotline at 202.576.8368.  The hotline is available to the children at the Youth Services Center (YSC) and the New Beginnings Youth Development Center.

  • Juvenile Walk-Ins: Suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
  • 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 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 
   1. 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
   2. 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.
   3. Stop at the desk and show valid identification to receive a payment slip.
   4. 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.
   5. 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. 
   6. 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.
   7. 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.
   8. 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
   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.