Articles Posted in Expunging and Sealing Criminal Records

As a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer I get numerous calls about Jacksonville, Florida Record Seal/Expunge. In most cases I can assist an individual in achieving this goal. However, Florida Statutes do define some offenses, regardless of adjudication that could potentially make a person ineligible for a Jacksonville Record Seal/Expunge.

Florida Statute § 943.059 governs Florida Record Sealing. It permits a Criminal Defendant in Florida to seal his or her record under certain circumstances. In particular, in order to have your Florida Criminal Record sealed, you cannot have ever been convicted of a crime. In the majority of Florida Record Sealing Cases, the applicant has been given a withhold of adjudication. With many crimes, if you have been given a withhold, you can petition to have your record sealed in Florida. However, there are certain crimes that you cannot have sealed, even if the conviction was withheld. The crimes are listed in Florida Statute § 907.041 and are as follows:

1. Arson;

Are you a Florida Resident located in St. Augustine, Duval, Orange Park, St. Johns county, Clay county, or the surrounding area? Have you applied for jobs or specialized licenses? Has your application been rejected because of a questionable criminal history? If so, a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer may be able to help! As a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer I can review your Florida Criminal History and make the initial determination as to whether or not you are eligible to have your record expunged.

In order to be eligible to have your Criminal Record Expunged, you must have not been convicted of any criminal offense, or had the charges brought against you dropped, or your current Criminal Record has been sealed for 10 years. These requirements and more are outlined in Florida Statute § 943.0585. Under this Statute, the person requesting a record expunction, must provide the court with a valid certificate of eligibility AND a sworn statement attesting to the following:

1. Never been adjudicated guilty;

As a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer I receive numerous calls about the desire to have one’s Criminal Record Sealed. Everyone has made mistakes in their past and those mistakes should not haunt a person for the rest of their lives. However, there are limitations as to who may receive a record seal, certain requirements must be met, and most importantly – have not been CONVICTED GUILTY for any criminal offense.

The procedure and requirements for having your Jacksonville Criminal Record Sealed are outlined in Florida Statute § 943.059. Under that Statute, the State requires the person wanting their record Sealed to provide a valid certificate of eligibility and a sworn statement attesting to the statutory requirements. Those requirements are:

1. Never adjudicated guilty;

Sometimes children misbehave and act out, unfortunately, sometimes these actions lead to serious Jacksonville Criminal Offenses and Penalties. However, in some cases, in Jacksonville, you can expunge a Florida juvenile record. Pursuant to Florida Statute § 943.0582, a juvenile criminal defendant can apply to have his or her record sealed if he or she has successfully completed a prearrest or postarrest diversion program.

In Jacksonville, this program is known as pretrial intervention or diversion. There are certain requirements that must be met, including the following:

1. The minor must submit an application signed by the minor’s parent or legal guardian no later than six (6) months after completing the diversion program.

Are you a Duval resident and have had trouble securing a job because of your not so clean Jacksonville Criminal History? Well, if so you might have an avenue to rectify the situation and gain that valuable employment to succeed in life. The avenue is having your Jacksonville Criminal History either sealed or expunged. However, petitioning the court for this is not definite and therefore, within the court’s discretion whether or not to seal or expunge your Jacksonville Criminal History. With that being said, in order to deny your petition the State Attorney must show good cause as to their objection.

The Procedure for petitioning the court to either expunge or seal your Jacksonville Criminal History is detailed in Florida Statutes § 943.0585 and § 943.059.

In order to potentially have your record expunged, you must not have been convicted guilty of any criminal offense, had charges dropped, or have had your record sealed for 10 years. Florida Statute § 943.0585 states in order to petition the court, the petitioner must provide the court with:

The recent case of Tiny Blessings, a local daycare, being forced to shut down has resulted in questions about employment screening for daycares.

Under Section 435.06, there are certain criminal offenses that will stop a person’s ability to work in certain fields. The crimes that will exclude a person from employment are listed in Section 435.04. These crimes can range from misdemeanor to felony charges, so it is important to review the list prior to making a decision as to whether to enter a plea of guilty or no contest to a criminal charge. If a Defendant enters a plea of guilty or no contest to a crime listed in Section 435.04(2), he or she will not be eligible for employment. Even if a person has been arrested, but the case has not been disposed of yet, he or she will still be excluded from employment.

This law would not apply if the record has been sealed. However, there are certain crimes that cannot be sealed, so it is important to be fully advised by a lawyer before entering a plea of guilty or no contest to any crime. There are exemptions that would permit a person to continue his or her employment. This section applies to felony crimes and misdemeanor crimes.

If you meet the requirements listed in Florida Statute Section 943.0585 or 943.059, you can get your record expunged or sealed in Florida. While it is within the court’s discretion whether or not to seal or expunge the Florida criminal record, the court can only deny the petition to seal or expunge the Florida criminal record if there is a good reason based on the facts and circumstances of each individual case. When the state attorney objects to a Florida criminal defendant’s petition to seal or expunge a record, the state attorney must present evidence at the hearing to support the state’s representations that the petition should be denied.

VDF v. State is a Jacksonville Florida case that addresses the issue of sealing versus expunging a Florida criminal record. In VDF v. State, the Florida First District Court of Appeals the trial court refused to expunge a Florida criminal defendant’s record. The Florida criminal defendant fulfilled all the requirements for an expunction under Florida Statute Section 943.0585. The court sealed the record instead of expunging it, so police would have easier access to the record. This was an abuse of the court’s discretion. The Florida criminal record should have been expunged instead, because VDF fulfilled all the Florida statutory requirements and the state did not present any evidence to support a denial of the Florida petition to expunge. Therefore, his record should have been expunged. VDF v. State, 19 So. 3d 1172 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009).

In most cases, you can prevent a perosn from seeing your Florida Criminal Record if you get your record sealed or expunged. In order to do this, you must meet certain criteria. Florida Statute Section 943.0585 lists the requirements for expunging a Florida Criminal Record. Florida Statute Section 943.059 sets forth the requirements for sealing a Florida Criminal Record. Read How to Seal a Criminal Record in Jacksonville, Florida to learn more about the requirements for a Florida Record Seal. Read Getting a Criminal Record Expunged in Jacksonville, Florida for more information on a Florida Record Expunction.

Sealing or Expunging your Florida Criminal Record will not stop every government agency from seeing your record, but it will work for most back ground checks. This is important to many people that are unemployed and looking for jobs. If you have your record sealed or expunged, you may legally deny the arrest.

Expunging a juvenile record may not prevent you from expunging or sealing an adult criminal record, in Jacksonville, Florida. Florida Statute Section 943.0582 permits a juvenile to expunge his or her record if he or she meets certain requirements (See Expunging a Florida Juvenile Record). If the Jacksonville Juvenile criminal record was expunged pursuant to Florida Statute Section 943.0582, the juvenile may still be eligible to have a future Jacksonville criminal arrest sealed under Section 943.059 or expunged under Section 943.0585, Florida Statutes. Section 943.0582(6) specifically states that:

“Expunction or sealing granted under this section does not prevent the minor who receives such relief from petitioning for the expunction or sealing of a later criminal history record as provided for in ss. 943.0585 and 943.059, if the minor is otherwise eligible under those sections.”

In Jacksonville, you can expunge a Florida juvenile record. Pursuant to Section 943.0582, Florida Statutes, a juvenile criminal defendant can apply to have his or her record sealed if he or she has successfully completed a prearrest or postarrest diversion program. In Jacksonville, this program is known as pretrial intervention or diversion. There are certain requirements that must be met, including the following:

1. The minor must submit an application signed by the minor’s parent or legal guardian no later than six (6) months after completing the diversion program.

2. The minor must include an official written statement from the state attorney certifying that the minor successfully completed the Jacksonville juvenile diversion program and that participation in the program is strictly limited to minors arrested for a nonviolent misdemeanor who have not otherwise been charged with or found to have committed any criminal offense or comparable ordinance violation.