State-by-state guide:

North Dakota

N.D. Cent. Code § 27-20-51 (1999): All juvenile court records are confidential and are only open to persons the judge deems to have legitimate interest in the case or in the work of the court. However, general information, upon request, which does not identify the identity of any juvenile, witness, or victim in any proceeding is available to the public. The name of the juvenile may be released if the juvenile is convicted a third time of an offense which would be a felony is committed by an adult.

N.D. Cent. Code § 27-20-51.1 (1999): In order to apprehend a juvenile who is alleged to have committed a delinquent act or has escaped from a secured facility, the juvenile’s name, photograph, fingerprints or other identifying information may be released.

N.D. Cent. Code § 27-20-52 (1999): Law enforcement records are not open to the public unless the national security or the interest of the juvenile requires disclosure. However, general information not identifying any juvenile may be released.

N.D. Cent. Code § 27-20-24(5) (1999): Except for contempt cases, the general public must be excluded from juvenile hearings; however, the court may permit access to those persons who have a "proper interest" in the case.

N.D. Cent. Code § 27-20-34 (1999): Trials are to be transferred to adult courts if a juvenile is 16 and requests the transfer or if a juvenile is 14 or older and committed a crime involving the offenses of murder or attempted murder; gross sexual imposition or the attempted gross sexual imposition of a victim by force or by threat of imminent death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping; or, the manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance.

Access denied: The North Dakota Supreme Court in Bismarck affirmed a jury verdict despite a defendant’s challenge that the trial court violated his right to a public trial by clearing the courtroom during the testimony of a juvenile witness. The court upheld the closure order because the record showed that the judge weighed the competing interests of the defendant and the public, held hearings out of the jury’s presence, and delayed ruling until the media could be heard. North Dakota v. Garcia, 561 N.W.2d 599 (N.D. 1997), cert. denied sub nom. Garcia v. North Dakota, 118 S. Ct. 193 (1997).