What Does it Mean to Seal or Expunge a Record?

March 2016

Orlando criminal defense attorney Jack Kaleita talks about sealing and expunging a record in Florida, the difference between both and the conditions you need to satisfy to get your record sealed or expunged.:

What Does it Mean to Seal or Expunge a Record?

"Basically in Florida, there is a legislative or statutory way, that you can erase an arrest, not a conviction, but an arrest, and that’s called sealing or expunging. You have to go through a lot of steps, it takes a long time, about 5 or 6 months normally, it’s not all that complicated, but it’s something that normally an attorney can do much more efficiently than you can. And basically, if you want to have something sealed or expunged, there’s a number of things you have to satisfy, and they’re all listed in chapter 943 of the Florida statutes. But basically what you have to have, is either an outright dismissal of your charge, or in some circumstances, adjudication can have been withheld, if it’s withheld, then you’re only eligible to be sealed provided your offense qualifies. Once it’s been sealed for 10 years than you can get it expunged. Expunged means basically to destroy the records. But whether you have it sealed or expunged, under either of those, if you’re questioned about, “do you have a prior criminal record?” interestingly enough, you can deny the existence of that arrest once the court has sealed or expunged that record."