Understanding Florida Expungement and Sealing: The Two-Tier System Explained

Florida's approach to criminal record relief is more procedurally involved than most states, and it rests on a distinction that confuses many people who are new to the process. Florida offers two separate remedies — sealing under Florida Statutes § 943.059 and expungement under § 943.0585 — and they work quite differently from each other. On top of that, the Florida system has a strict lifetime limit and requires applicants to obtain a certificate of eligibility from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) before they can even petition the court. Understanding the full picture is essential before beginning this process.

The Crucial Concept: Withhold of Adjudication

Before diving into the mechanics of sealing and expungement, it is important to understand the concept at the heart of Florida's system: the withhold of adjudication.

In Florida criminal courts, a judge who finds a defendant guilty does not always formally enter a "conviction." When a judge withholds adjudication, it means the judge found guilt (or accepted a guilty or no-contest plea) but declined to formally enter a conviction in the record. This is called a withhold of adjudication, and it is a critical distinction in Florida law.

Florida's expungement and sealing system primarily benefits people who received a withhold of adjudication. If you received a straight conviction — meaning the judge formally adjudicated you guilty — you are generally not eligible for sealing or expungement under Florida's standard statutes, with very limited exceptions. If your case resulted in a withhold of adjudication, you may be on a path toward relief. If your charge was dismissed outright, you may be eligible for expungement immediately (after the FDLE process).

This makes the withhold of adjudication enormously important in Florida criminal practice, and it explains why — when the outcome of a plea negotiation is in your hands — preserving the withhold matters so much for future options.

Sealing Under § 943.059

Sealing under Florida Statutes § 943.059 restricts the criminal history record from public view. After sealing, the record is not destroyed — it still exists in state databases — but it is no longer accessible to the general public or most private-sector employers conducting background checks. The record remains visible to law enforcement, criminal justice agencies, and a range of specified entities listed in the statute.

After a record is sealed, you may generally deny the arrest or criminal proceeding to most employers and the public, with important exceptions. Certain agencies and professions are specifically exempt from this protection — meaning they can still see the sealed record and you may be required to disclose it to them. These include state and local law enforcement agencies, the Department of Children and Families, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Education, school boards, and employers in certain licensed professions.

Sealing is typically the first step in a two-stage process. A sealed record can later become eligible for expungement, but only after it has been sealed for at least ten years (for adult records), and the applicant must otherwise qualify.

Expungement Under § 943.0585

Expungement under Florida Statutes § 943.0585 goes further than sealing. When a record is expunged, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the various criminal justice agencies that received copies of the record are required to physically destroy or obliterate the record. FDLE retains a confidential copy of the expunged record, but it is not available to the public.

After expungement, you may generally deny the arrest or related proceedings to any person — including most employers and government agencies — except in specifically defined circumstances. These exceptions include applications for positions in law enforcement, applications to work with children, and certain state licensure proceedings.

Expungement is available in Florida in a more limited set of circumstances than sealing. The most common path is for someone who has already had their record sealed for the requisite period and now seeks to have it destroyed. A direct path to expungement — without going through sealing first — exists for people whose cases were dismissed or resulted in acquittal, but not for most cases involving a withhold of adjudication on an adult record.

The FDLE Certificate of Eligibility

Before you can petition a Florida court for sealing or expungement, you must first apply to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for a Certificate of Eligibility. This is a requirement specific to Florida and one that adds both time and cost to the process.

The application to FDLE involves submitting a completed application form, paying a $75 non-refundable fee, and providing fingerprints (typically done through a licensed livescan provider). FDLE reviews your criminal history to determine whether you are facially eligible under the statute, meaning whether any disqualifying convictions or circumstances exist on your record.

FDLE processing time has historically run three to six months, though this can vary. Only after FDLE issues the Certificate of Eligibility can you file your petition with the court. This means the total timeline from beginning to a court-granted order — counting FDLE processing plus court processing — can easily reach six to twelve months or more, even for straightforward cases.

There is an important implication here: any criminal activity after you submit your FDLE application but before the court grants the petition can jeopardize eligibility. Staying completely out of legal trouble during the entire process is essential.

The Lifetime One-Shot Rule

Florida imposes a strict lifetime limit on sealing and expungement: you are generally entitled to have only one criminal history record sealed or expunged under Florida law in your lifetime. This applies to both sealing and expungement combined — getting one record sealed and later expunged counts as your one lifetime use. Seeking to seal or expunge a second separate offense is generally not permitted.

This makes the one-time use of this remedy extremely consequential. If you have multiple arrests or charges on your record, you may want to think carefully — ideally with the guidance of an attorney — about which record would provide the greatest benefit if cleared. Using the one-time allowance on a minor offense while leaving a more damaging charge visible may not serve your long-term interests.

There are limited exceptions to the one-shot rule. Juvenile records operate under separate rules, and some specific statutory provisions create narrow exceptions. But for most adults with multiple criminal records, the one-lifetime limit is a real and binding constraint.

Disqualifying Offenses Under § 943.0584

Florida Statutes § 943.0584 lists a long roster of offenses that are absolutely disqualifying for sealing or expungement, regardless of when the offense occurred, whether you received a withhold of adjudication, or how well you have done since. These disqualifying offenses include:

Any offense listed as a sexual offense or a sexual offense against a minor. Murder, attempted murder, and manslaughter. Robbery and carjacking. Arson. Kidnapping and false imprisonment when the victim is a minor. Home invasion robbery. Aircraft piracy. Trafficking in controlled substances. Any offense involving a sexual predator or sexual offender designation.

If any disqualifying offense appears anywhere on your criminal record — even if that specific offense is not the one you are seeking to seal or expunge — your eligibility may be affected. FDLE's review during the Certificate of Eligibility process checks your entire criminal history, not just the offense you want to address.

Automatic Sealing for Juvenile Records

Florida law provides for automatic sealing of certain juvenile arrest records under specific circumstances. Juvenile records that have not resulted in an adult charge are typically sealed when the individual reaches age 24, or earlier in some cases. The juvenile expungement process is also separate from the adult process and operates under different statutory provisions. If you are concerned about a juvenile record, the process and eligibility criteria differ meaningfully from adult record relief.

What Sealing and Expungement Accomplish for Employers and Housing

For most private-sector employment, a sealed or expunged record in Florida provides meaningful protection. Most private employers conducting standard background checks should not see a sealed or expunged record, and you may generally decline to disclose it on job applications unless the application specifically asks about sealed or expunged records, which few private employers are allowed to do.

Housing applications present a similar picture. Most standard tenant screening processes should not reveal a properly sealed or expunged record. However, the same exceptions that apply to employment — licensing boards, agencies working with vulnerable populations, law enforcement — apply in the housing context for subsidized or government-connected housing.

For a comprehensive overview of what the process involves in your county, visit the Florida expungement guide.

Taking the Next Step

If you believe you received a withhold of adjudication, or if your charge was dismissed or you were acquitted, you may have a path to sealing or expungement in Florida. The first step is verifying the exact disposition of your case — whether you received a conviction, a withhold, or a dismissal — and then determining whether any disqualifying offenses appear on your record. From there, the FDLE application process can begin.

Ready to find out if you qualify? Get your free consultation — no commitment required.