Expungement and Record Sealing
People often ask about record expungement . In Florida, record expungement is defined as court-ordered physical destruction of a record by any criminal justice agency or other public entity in possession of such information. In order to obtain an expungement, the State must not have filed an indictment, information, or other charging document in the case. If one was issued, it was dismissed by the State. There are also disqualifying offenses that can prevent an expungement. If one does not qualify for an expungement, there is the option of record sealing. Sealing is defined as the court-ordered maintenance of a record where it is secure and inaccessible to any person not having a legal right of access to the information contained within it. In order to obtain a sealing, one must not have been adjudicated guilty or delinquent, never have secured a prior sealing or expunction, or have committed a disqualifying offense, and not be under court supervision. Basically, whethe