Expungement in Florida
Court-ordered expungement is Florida's strongest remedy. Under Fla. Stat. § 943.0585, the court orders your record destroyed. FDLE keeps one confidential copy. Only a court order can open it, though FDLE tells criminal justice agencies, and the employers, licensing bodies and screeners named in the exceptions below, that it exists. Every other criminal justice agency must destroy its copy, keeping at most a note that it obeyed the order. You may lawfully deny the arrest ever happened, except in nine cases: a criminal justice job; a criminal case against you; a petition to seal or expunge, now or later; The Florida Bar; a job, license or contract with the state's agencies for children and families, health, disabilities, elders or juvenile justice, or a job with direct contact with children, the disabled or the elderly at one of their contractors or licensees; a job, license or contract with a school, the Department of Education or a local child-care licensing body, or their contractors; an insurance agent's license; appointment as a guardian; and screening through the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse.
It most often fits a charge that was dropped, dismissed, or never filed — or that ended with a judge or jury finding you not guilty. In legal terms: no charging document was filed, or the charge was dismissed, or you were acquitted. The list in Fla. Stat. § 943.0584 applies here. A conviction for a listed offense cannot be expunged. That holds even with adjudication withheld.
As a rule, Florida allows one court-ordered sealing or expunction in a lifetime. It covers one arrest or incident, in one proceeding — and other arrests only if they directly relate to it and the order says so. There is one common second step. A record sealed under Fla. Stat. § 943.059 for 10 years may then be expunged.
The path runs through FDLE's certificate of eligibility. Then you petition. You file in the county where the case was handled. The check asks the same questions the application does.
Learn more about how this works.