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. Every other agency's copy is destroyed. With narrow exceptions, you may lawfully deny the arrest ever happened.
It most often fits a charge that was dropped, dismissed, or never filed. In legal terms: no adjudication of guilt. The list in Fla. Stat. § 943.0584 applies here. A conviction for a listed offense closes the door. That holds even with adjudication withheld.
As a rule, Florida allows one court-ordered expunction in a lifetime. It covers one arrest record, in one proceeding. 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.