Criminal defense
Sealing and expungement in Florida
Florida does not erase convictions, whatever the advertising says
Two different remedies get called the same thing. Expunction is for a case that ended without a conviction — never charged, dismissed, dropped by the prosecutor, or acquitted. Sealing is for a case where the court withheld adjudication. Neither is available for a conviction, and both are limited to once in a lifetime. That last rule is the one that should change how a pending case is handled today.
01 Quick answers
- Can a conviction be expunged?
- No. Expunction under § 943.0585 requires that the case ended without an adjudication of guilt. Florida does not erase convictions.
- What is the difference from sealing?
- Sealing under § 943.059 is the route where adjudication was withheld. Expunction is for cases that ended without any adjudication at all.
- Does a prior conviction disqualify me?
- Having ever been adjudicated guilty in Florida of any criminal offense disqualifies you, even for a different, later case that itself ended favorably.
- How many times can I do this?
- Generally once in a lifetime. A prior sealing or expunction under the listed statutes makes you ineligible.
- What comes first?
- A certificate of eligibility from FDLE. The petition to the court comes after it, not before.
- Does it disappear completely?
- Not from everything. Sealed and expunged records remain accessible to defined agencies and in defined circumstances, and some applications legally require disclosure.
02 Two remedies
Expunction and sealing are not the same thing
Expunction under § 943.0585 applies where the case ended without a conviction: no charging document was ever filed, the charges were dismissed or dropped by the prosecutor, the court dismissed it, or there was an acquittal or a not-guilty verdict. The record is destroyed by the agencies holding it, with a confidential copy retained by FDLE.
Sealing under § 943.059 applies where the court withheld adjudication. The record continues to exist but is made confidential and is removed from public view.
Neither reaches a conviction. If adjudication was entered — if you were adjudicated guilty — there is no court-ordered sealing or expunction of that case. This is the sentence that most needs saying, because advertising in this area routinely implies that any record can be cleared for a fee.
There are separate provisions for particular situations, including certain juvenile records and records of arrests made contrary to law. Those are narrow and they are checked individually rather than assumed.
If you were adjudicated guilty, there is no court-ordered sealing or expunction of that case. That is the whole of it.
03 Who qualifies
The conditions, including the one that catches people
The case itself must have ended in the right way — without a conviction for expunction, with a withhold for sealing — and you must no longer be under court supervision for it.
Your whole history matters, not just this case. Having ever been adjudicated guilty in Florida of any criminal offense disqualifies you. That is the condition people are caught by: a case from fifteen years ago that ended in a conviction blocks the sealing of a different case that ended perfectly well.
It is once in a lifetime. A prior sealing or expunction under the listed statutes makes a person ineligible for another. So where someone has more than one eligible case, which one to use the single opportunity on is a real decision rather than a formality.
Certain offenses are excluded by type, regardless of how the case ended. The list is specific and it is checked against the actual statute of the charge rather than against its everyday name.
04 The process
Certificate first, petition second
The certificate of eligibility comes from FDLE, and it comes first. The application needs a certified disposition of the case and a fingerprint card, and FDLE checks the statutory conditions before issuing anything. This step takes time and it is where most applications are returned, usually over a missing or incorrect disposition.
The petition goes to the court in the circuit where the case was handled, with a sworn statement and the certificate attached. The State Attorney has an opportunity to respond.
Granting it is discretionary. Meeting every condition establishes eligibility; it does not entitle anyone to the order. The statute says so directly. A judge can decline, and that possibility is worth understanding before the work starts.
Where a case was handled in a different county, the petition goes to that circuit, not to the one you live in now.
05 The real lesson
This is decided at the plea, not five years later
Everything above runs backwards into a case that is open right now. Whether a record can ever be cleared is determined by how the case ends, and that is negotiated at the plea.
A withhold of adjudication preserves the possibility of sealing. A conviction destroys it permanently. Those two outcomes can carry identical probation and identical fines, and a defendant focused on avoiding jail may accept the one that forecloses the rest of their life without anyone pointing out the difference.
DUI is the clearest example. Florida law bars a court from withholding adjudication for DUI, so a DUI plea is always a conviction and can never be sealed. Where a reduction to a different charge is legally available, that reduction is frequently worth more than any sentencing concession.
The once-in-a-lifetime rule has the same shape. Someone with two eligible cases has one opportunity, and using it on the less damaging record is a mistake that cannot be undone.
06 The statutes
- Fla. Stat. § 943.0585 Court-ordered expunction The eligible dispositions, the no-prior-adjudication rule, and the once-in-a-lifetime limit.
- Fla. Stat. § 943.059 Court-ordered sealing The route where adjudication was withheld, and its exclusions.
- Fla. Stat. § 316.656 Mandatory adjudication for DUI Why a DUI can never be sealed: no withhold is available.
- Fla. Stat. § 943.0515 Retention of juvenile records How juvenile records are retained and when they are destroyed, which runs on its own rules.
Sealing and expungement questions, answered
The charges were dropped. Why is it still showing up?
Because the arrest record exists independently of the outcome. A dismissal ends the prosecution; it does not remove the arrest from the databases that background checks read.
A case that ended that way is the clearest candidate for expunction, and that is the remedy that actually removes it.
I was told I could get my conviction expunged for a fee.
Florida does not expunge convictions, and no fee changes that. If someone has quoted a price to clear a conviction, the thing being sold does not exist.
What is worth paying for is an eligibility review, which tells you which of your cases, if any, can actually be cleared.
I have two old cases. Can I clear both?
Generally no — it is once in a lifetime. And if either ended in an adjudication of guilt, that one both cannot be cleared and may disqualify you from clearing the other.
Where there is a genuine choice, which case to spend the opportunity on should be decided on what each record actually costs you.
Will employers still see it?
A sealed or expunged record is removed from ordinary public access, and in most situations you may lawfully deny the arrest. There are defined exceptions where disclosure is required — certain licensing, certain employment with vulnerable populations, and others — and those exceptions are specific rather than general.
Does this help with immigration?
Not reliably. A state sealing or expunction does not erase the disposition for federal immigration purposes, and federal authorities can still consider it. Anyone who is not a citizen should treat this as a separate question with a separate answer.
What does it cost?
Handled on a flat fee set by the scope, which covers the eligibility review, the FDLE certificate application and the petition. The FDLE fee is separate and paid to FDLE. The eligibility review comes first, because it is the step that decides whether anything else is worth doing.
Criminal matters are handled on a flat fee, set by the charges and the scope of the representation. Any consultation charge is disclosed before the appointment. There are no payment plans.
07 Keep reading
Talk to Jose A. Dapena about your sealing and expungement matter
You speak with the attorney who would handle the case, not an intake department. Practicing in Florida since 1998, Florida Bar number 152358.
Criminal matters are handled on a flat fee, set by the charges and the scope of the representation. Any consultation charge is disclosed before the appointment. There are no payment plans.