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subject: Florida Expungement - Common Reasons Why Requests To Seal Or [print this page]

Florida Expungement - Common Reasons Why Requests To Seal Or

Florida expungement law is governed by statute. The statutes contain detailed

requirements, rules, procedures and exceptions that a person must navigate

during the sealing or expungement process. If you are interested in sealing

or expunging your record yourself, it is useful to know the most common

reasons for denial, and how to avoid them!

Briefly, someone seeking to expunge or seal a Florida record must obtain a

Certificate of Eligibility from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement

(FLDE) prior to petitioning a court for a seal or expunge order. The statutes

set out explicit eligibility requirements that a person must meet in order to

obtain the Certificate. One of the most common reasons the FDLE denies a

request for the Certificate of Eligibility is that someone has requested to

seal one of the enumerated offenses that under Florida law cannot be sealed,

i.e. a prohibited offense. There is a laundry list, including but not limited

to, arson, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, child abuse, kidnapping,

homicide, manslaughter, sexual battery, carjacking, robbery, burglary of a

dwelling, home-invasion robbery, stalking, and many sex crimes against

children. Look at this statutory list before you begin the process of having

your record sealed or expunged.

However, the FDLE may get it wrong. What matters under the record sealing

statute is the final charge that you pled guilty or no contest to, and not

the arrest charge. For example, you may have been arrested for armed robbery

(a prohibited offense), but received a withhold adjudication for grand theft

(not a prohibited offense). A particularly tricky area of the law can be

domestic violence. Sometimes an arrest report will say "domestic" battery,

but it's not (e.g., because while boyfriend and girlfriend, the parties don't

live together). If the FDLE is wrong in its denial, you can appeal. File a

Petition to Review Florida Department of Law Enforcement Denial of

Application for Certificate of Eligibility to Seal with the trial court in

your jurisdiction. Then, call the FDLE lawyer to discuss.

Other common reasons for denial at the Certificate of Eligibility stage are

just not meeting the eligibility requirements under the statutes. Simply put,

you cannot have been adjudicated guilty of any crime, anywhere, have

previously sealed or expunged a record, have a concurrent petition to seal or

expunge before another court of competent jurisdiction, or not have completed

your sentence for an arrest you want to seal. Again, you can save a lot of

time and money by a careful review of the statutes before starting the

sealing or expunging process.

Even if all requirements are met, expungement and record sealing are within

the discretion of Florida courts, which means that your request will not

automatically be granted just because you are eligible under the statutes.

Courts often cite "compelling public interest" as the reason for denying a

record sealing request, which is most usual in cases involving public

officials. In addition, the State may object, in which case a hearing will be

held and you will have to argue your case. However, if your petition to seal

or expunge is denied by a court, you may have recourse. Florida courts have

to give a factual basis for denial, and if they do not, you can appeal. The

court is required to consider all facts and circumstances surrounding your

request. Also, you should know that you may be denied even if you were

pardoned. The Governor and Cabinet of Florida have stated that the granting

of a full pardon does not make a person eligible for sealing or expunging a

criminal record history automatically. If a condition of ineligibility for

sealing or expunging remains, the FDLE will deny a Certificate of Eligibility

to any person receiving a pardon who is otherwise ineligible to have a record

sealed or expunged.

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