Record Sealing and Expungements
Florida Expungement And Record Seal Attorney
A criminal record, both police and court records, can have adverse consequences on your future. Having a permanent criminal record of an arrest or conviction of a misdemeanor or felony may affect your ability to find employment, rent or lease an apartment, or may affect other situations in your life when a Florida criminal background check is run. Even if you were not convicted and received a Withold of Adjudication, your life may still be negatively impacted by the criminal record. Record sealing or expungement is a civil legal action in which you petition the court to have your criminal records sealed or removed from view or access by others.
If you or someone you know needs help having a criminal record sealed or expunged in Florida, contact me, a Fort Walton Beach expungement lawyer. I offer a free consultation to determine your eligibility for an expungement or record seal.
Florida Expungement
Florida law permits the expungement of a criminal record where a conviction did not occur or adjudication was withheld. In general, eligibility requirements include not having been convicted or having pled guilty to a criminal offense and not having received an earlier expungement. Some criminal records are ineligible for expungement. For specific information about your case, contact me for a free consultation.
In order to petition the court for an expungement, the petitioner must obtain a Certificate of Eligibility from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Once a criminal record has been successfully expunged, its disclosure will be limited to only the Florida Bar, the Florida Department of Children and Families, the Florida Board of Education, and law enforcement who will only be informed that the record has been sealed. No other private or public access of the record will be given. If you are successful in gaining an expungement, you gain the legal right to deny any information about the arrest or the proceedings that followed it. It will not come up on a background check to plague your future.
