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Clearing Your Criminal Record

Depending on how your case is resolved, Florida law allows you to have your Florida criminal records either:

• Sealed or
• Expunged

An expunged record results in the physical destruction of all but one copy of your criminal record, which is maintained by FDLE.

A sealed record is concealed from public view and unavailable for public inspection, but can still be physically reviewed by law enforcement.

But neither a sealed record, nor an expunged record are made available to a private employer or through a public background search.

Sealing

You may be eligible to have your criminal record sealed if:

1. You plead guilty or no contest, and
2. received a withhold of adjudication, and
3. You have never been adjudicated guilty of any other crime.

When a record is sealed, courts and law enforcement agencies are prohibited from acknowledging their existence or divulging their contents to the public.

Expungement

You may be eligible to have your criminal record expunged if:

1. Charges were dismissed and
2. You have never been adjudicated guilty of any other crime.

When a record is expunged, courts and law enforcement agencies physically destroy the records related to your arrest. This makes it impossible for the allegations to be accidentally divulged. However, one copy is confidentially maintained by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement forever.

Executive Clemency: Civil Rights Restoration and Pardons

If you are ineligible to have your record sealed or expunged, you have you may want to consider pursuing executive clemency, which encompasses both civil rights restoration and the pardon process.

While I do not handle executive clemency matters, I do provide information on the process and the contact information for an attorney who can be retained to handle the process. Click here if you would like more information.

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William S. Foley, P.A.
Divorce and Family Law

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