How do I seal or expunge a record in Florida, step by step?

Court-ordered sealing and expunction follow the same two-stage path: FDLE decides whether you meet the statutory criteria and issues a certificate of eligibility, and then a judge decides whether to grant the petition. Before starting, it is worth confirming that you qualify, as explained in whether you are eligible to seal or expunge your record. How Mr. Mead handles these petitions is on our records expungement page.

What are the steps, in order?

1. Gather the dispositions. Get a certified disposition for each charge from the clerk in the county where the case was. If you completed pretrial intervention or another diversion program, FDLE accepts the completion certificate or letter in its place; the programs that issue them are compared in pretrial diversion in Palm Beach and Broward. If you were on probation, get proof that it was terminated.
2. For expunction, get the State Attorney's statement. FDLE requires, for all expunction applications, including juveniles, the written certified statement page completed by the State Attorney or Statewide Prosecutor (s. 943.0585(2)(a)2.).
3. Get fingerprinted. By an authorized member of law enforcement or another criminal justice agency, on a card that shows your name, date of birth and signature and the official's signature and agency stamp (FDLE).
4. Complete and notarize the application. The FDLE application must be filled out in full and signed in front of a notary public or a deputy clerk. If you received a notice to appear instead of being arrested, use that date (FDLE).
5. Pay and mail. Include a nonrefundable $75 money order, cashier's check or personal check payable to FDLE; FDLE does not accept cash, gift cards or temporary checks. A lawyer must include a letter of representation on letterhead (FDLE).
6. Receive the certificate. A sealing certificate is valid for 12 months from the date stamped on it; after that, you must reapply, and the law and your status at that time decide eligibility (s. 943.059(2)(b)).
7. File the petition. FDLE says to file it "in the court having jurisdiction over the arrest (usually in the county in which the arrest occurred)," with the certificate and your sworn statement that you meet the requirements and have no other sealing or expunction petition pending. A knowingly false sworn statement is a third-degree felony (ss. 943.059(3), 943.0585(3)).
8. Serve the State Attorney and the arresting agency. Both get a copy and may respond to the court (s. 943.059(5)(a)).
9. The judge decides. In Palm Beach County, the Clerk says the judge reviews the documents "at a hearing scheduled by the court." Sealing is not a right and may be denied at the court's discretion (s. 943.059(4)(e)).
10. The order goes out. The clerk certifies copies to the State Attorney and the arresting agency, the arresting agency forwards it to agencies it shared the record with, and FDLE forwards a sealing order to the FBI (s. 943.059(5)(b)).

What does it cost?

The Palm Beach Clerk's packet "explains the costs involved," including the filing fee, the FDLE fees and fees for fingerprints taken by a local agency, and includes a fingerprint card. The Broward State Attorney's office says it offers free arrest-sealing and expungement workshops. These are government and program costs only.

What should I do before the order is signed?

Get copies of everything you may need later. FDLE "highly" recommends keeping copies of the arrest report, the certified disposition and the order. The Palm Beach Clerk is blunter about expunction: "Once a case is expunged, the Clerk's office will not be able to provide any case information or copies of case documents. Certified copies must be requested and paid for prior to the case being expunged." That matters because some later applications, such as for The Florida Bar or a position with a criminal justice agency, still require disclosure (s. 943.059(6)(b)). The same exceptions apply to records sealed without a petition, as explained in whether your record is already sealed automatically.

What does the order actually do?

The two orders have different effects. A record ordered expunged "must be physically destroyed or obliterated by any criminal justice agency having custody of such record," except that FDLE keeps its copy in all cases, confidential (s. 943.0585(6)(a)). A record ordered sealed is not destroyed; it becomes confidential and available only to the person, the person's attorney, criminal justice agencies, judges for case-related decisions, and certain licensing and employment entities named in the statute (s. 943.059(6)(a)). In both cases the person may lawfully deny or fail to acknowledge the arrests covered, except in listed situations such as applying to a criminal justice agency, to The Florida Bar, for a concealed weapon license, or to buy a firearm from a licensed dealer (ss. 943.059(6)(b), 943.0585(6)(b)). A person granted sealing cannot be charged with perjury for not mentioning the sealed record, subject to those exceptions (s. 943.059(6)(c)). Who can still see the record, application by application, is set out in what employers and landlords can see after sealing.

What if FDLE denies the application?

FDLE says a denial can be reviewed. If the denial rests on information in your criminal history that is wrong or incomplete, you can request a free Personal Review of your Florida record under s. 943.056, with fingerprints taken by a law enforcement agency, and challenge the inaccurate entries. If the record is right but you believe the law was misapplied, FDLE says you may ask the court that would hear the petition to review its decision.

What changes the answer?

• Sealing or expunction. Expunction adds the State Attorney's certified statement and, for a withheld adjudication, a prior 10-year sealing (s. 943.0585(1)(h), (2)). Why a withhold matters is explained in what a withhold of adjudication is.
• More than one arrest. An order may cover one arrest or incident, plus additional arrests only if they directly relate to it and the order says so (s. 943.059(4)(c)).
• A juvenile record. Diversion expunction and early juvenile expunction have their own FDLE applications (ss. 943.0582, 943.0515). The programs that lead to diversion expunction include the one in juvenile civil citation.
• A mistaken arrest. Administrative expunction, supported by the arresting agency or the State Attorney, is a separate route (s. 943.0581).
• An order that does not comply. FDLE does not have to act on an order entered without a certificate of eligibility (s. 943.059(5)(c)).
• Timing. A certificate expires after 12 months, so the petition should be filed promptly.
• A DUI. A DUI conviction cannot be sealed at all, for the reasons in whether a DUI can be sealed or expunged.

A worked example

For example, take a hypothetical man whose 2021 Broward possession case, of the kind described in drug possession penalties, was dismissed after he completed felony pretrial intervention. Because the case ended in a dismissal before trial, he could seek expunction. He would ask the Broward State Attorney for the certified statement, get his PTI completion letter, be fingerprinted by a law enforcement agency, sign the FDLE application before a notary and mail it with a $75 money order. With the certificate, he would file a petition and sworn statement in Broward circuit court and serve the State Attorney and the arresting agency. Before the hearing, he would order certified copies of the file, since the clerk could not provide them after expunction. This illustration is not a prediction for any case.

Common mistakes people make

• Sending cash or an incomplete application; FDLE does not accept cash.
• Signing the application without a notary or deputy clerk present.
• Forgetting the State Attorney's statement on an expunction application.
• Letting the 12-month certificate expire before filing the petition.
• Not ordering certified copies before an expunction.
• Listing more than one unrelated arrest in a single petition.

What to do this week

1. Confirm eligibility for the specific case.
2. Order the certified disposition from the clerk.
3. For expunction, request the State Attorney's certified statement.
4. Schedule fingerprinting with a law enforcement agency.
5. Get the FDLE application and a $75 money order or cashier's check ready.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a lawyer to seal or expunge a record?

No, the clerks publish forms and FDLE publishes instructions. A lawyer can confirm eligibility, choose which record to clear with the one-time remedy, and handle the State Attorney and the hearing.

How long is a certificate of eligibility good for?

A sealing certificate is valid for 12 months from the date stamped on it (s. 943.059(2)(b)).

Where do I get the petition forms?

In Palm Beach County, from the Clerk's Self Service Center for a nominal fee; in Martin County, free from the Clerk's Criminal Division. FDLE also publishes instructions and forms online. The Palm Beach courts are described on the Palm Beach County page. The Martin courthouse is covered on the Martin County page.

Will the State Attorney oppose it?

The State Attorney and the arresting agency receive the petition and may respond (s. 943.059(5)(a)); whether they object depends on the case.

Does the order reach the FBI?

For sealing, FDLE forwards the order to the FBI (s. 943.059(5)(b)).

What happens to the clerk's online record?

A sealed or expunged court file becomes confidential. The Palm Beach Clerk also notes that court orders and notices of hearing on sealing and expunging are posted online by order of the court. Our records expungement page covers what changes after the order. Why a case can still appear online, and what to do about it, is covered in whether sealing removes a case from the clerk's website.

How can Mr. Mead help?

Mr. Mead's practice is devoted entirely to criminal defense, with more than three decades in South Florida courts. A sealing or expunction petition is paperwork-heavy, and a single missing document can delay it for months, so having it checked before it is sent is worthwhile. The office is in Boca Raton, Spanish and Portuguese are spoken, and you can call 24 hours.

Every case is different, and no result can be promised. If you want to start the process, a confidential call to (561) 362-6677 is a sound first step.

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