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

Plain-language summary

This is Florida's automatic sealing statute — a path that asks nothing of you. It covers a case that ends in your favor on every count: no charging document filed, the charges dropped or dismissed, a judgment of acquittal, or 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, information, or other charging document for a forcible felony does not seal on its own. Neither do certain dismissals tied to incompetency, a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, or charges for offenses listed for sexual offender registration in section 943.0435. 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 reaches only FDLE's record and the related court record, which the clerk must keep confidential. It does not make other criminal justice agencies seal their own copies. So a record sealed this way can still be worth clearing by court order — expungement under section 943.0585 or sealing under section 943.059 — because the petition reaches the copies the automatic path does not. But that order uses your one court-ordered sealing or expunction: after it, neither section lets you seal or expunge another record.