Automatic sealing of criminal history records; confidentiality of related court records

Plain-language summary

This is Florida's automatic sealing statute — the one path that asks nothing of you. It covers a case that ends in your favor: no charging document filed, charges dismissed, an acquittal, a not-guilty verdict. The clerk of court sends FDLE a certified disposition, and FDLE seals its record when the paper arrives. No application, no fingerprint card, no fee.

The coverage has edges. A charge brought by indictment or information for a forcible felony does not seal on its own. Neither do certain dismissals tied to incompetency or insanity, or offenses on the sexual-predator registry list. A record outside those edges seals without anyone asking.

Unlike court-ordered relief, there is no limit on how many times this can happen. Each qualifying case seals on its own.

One structural limit: automatic sealing binds FDLE's record only. It does not make other criminal justice agencies seal their own copies. So a record sealed this way can still be worth sealing by court order under section 943.059 — the petition reaches the copies the automatic path does not.