Sealing and expunction in Florida are two different remedies with two different eligibility statutes, one shared application process through the Department of Law Enforcement, and a statutory limit of one court-ordered outcome in a lifetime.
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Or call (813) 588-6602Florida Statute 943.0585 governs court-ordered expunction. A person is eligible to petition where no indictment, information, or other charging document was filed or issued, or where such a document was filed but was dismissed or nolle prosequi by the state attorney or statewide prosecutor, or dismissed by a court of competent jurisdiction, or where a judgment of acquittal was rendered by a judge or a verdict of not guilty was rendered by a judge or jury. The statute also requires that the record not be ineligible under Florida Statute 943.0584, and that the person has never been adjudicated guilty in this state of a criminal offense, or adjudicated delinquent in this state for a felony or one of the listed misdemeanors, unless that delinquency record was expunged under Florida Statute 943.0515.
Florida Statute 943.059 governs court-ordered sealing. It applies to records not ineligible under 943.0584 where the person has never, before the date the application for a certificate of eligibility is filed, been adjudicated guilty in this state of a criminal offense or adjudicated delinquent for a felony or one of the enumerated misdemeanors. Those enumerated offenses include assault, battery, carrying a concealed weapon under Florida Statute 790.01(2), and open carrying of a weapon under Florida Statute 790.053, among others.
Florida Statute 943.0584 lists records ineligible for either remedy and defines conviction to include a plea of guilty or nolo contendere regardless of whether adjudication was withheld.
Florida Statute 943.0595 provides for automatic sealing of certain records. This is not the same relief as a court-ordered sealing, and it does not consume the one court-ordered outcome described below.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement describes the certificate of eligibility as the first step for either court-ordered remedy, and states that a person is entitled to one court-ordered sealing or expungement in a lifetime. The application must be notarized or signed before a deputy clerk. It requires a certified disposition for each charge, a completed fingerprint form or card bearing the agency identifier, and, for an expunction application, a certified written statement from the appropriate state attorney or statewide prosecutor confirming the record meets the statutory criteria.
The department states a nonrefundable processing fee of $75.00, payable by money order, cashier's check, or personal check made out to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, matching the $75 processing fee written into 943.0585. It states that processing typically takes 12 weeks from receipt of a complete package and cannot be expedited, that a record is not relieved until the department receives a certified copy of the court order, and that granting a petition remains at the sole discretion of the court even where a certificate has issued.
Administrative Order S-2024-030 of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit assigns petitions to seal and expunge in matters with no division assignment to Criminal Division "O." Where a division was assigned, that division ordinarily handles the petition. The Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court maintains the court file, and its published guidance notes that on-site file retrieval can take several business days, which matters when certified dispositions are needed.
A sequence follows: confirm the disposition of every charge, check the ineligibility list, obtain certified dispositions and the prosecutor's statement where expunction is sought, complete the fingerprint requirement, submit the application with the fee, wait for the certificate, then file the petition in the correct division.
This page is general information about Florida record relief statutes and Department of Law Enforcement procedure. It is not legal advice and determines no eligibility. Anyone seeking to seal or expunge a Florida record should consult a licensed Florida attorney, since the statute allows only one court-ordered outcome in a lifetime.
Sealing and Expunging a Florida Criminal Record in Tampa. Call (813) 588-6602 and a Tampa lawyer reviews the claim and the deadline that applies. Nothing is signed on that call.
Call (813) 588-6602Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.130 requires that every arrested person not already released in a lawful manner be taken before a judicial officer within 24 hours of arrest, in person or by electronic audiovisual device at the court's discretion. At that hearing the judge must state the charge, provide a copy of the complaint, and advise the person of the right to remain silent and the right to counsel. Rule 3.133 sets a separate 48-hour limit for a nonadversary probable cause determination when the defendant is in custody.
Why it matters: In Hillsborough County that hearing is normally run by video link from the county jail, and release conditions are addressed at it. Rule 3.130(c)(2) also requires the judge to allow a defendant who is hiring counsel reasonable time to send for that lawyer and, on request, to have an officer carry a message to a named lawyer inside the county at no cost. That makes the first day after an arrest the point at which counsel matters most.
Source: flcourts.gov
Administrative Order S-2025-063 of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit adopts the statewide uniform bond schedule for Hillsborough County without change, effective January 1 through December 31, 2026. The order states the schedule applies only to the booking officer and does not bind a judge. It also excludes a long list of arrests: capital, life, first- and second-degree felonies, homicide, felony battery, domestic battery by strangulation, and domestic violence under Florida Statutes 741.28. The list continues with stalking, robbery, burglary, carjacking, kidnapping, trafficking in a controlled substance, and violation of a protective injunction. It reaches anyone on pretrial release, probation or community control at the time of a felony arrest, and anyone arrested three or more times in the preceding six months.
Why it matters: It decides whether anyone can be bonded out at the jail counter or has to wait for a judge. For every excluded charge there is no pre-first-appearance release, and the judge then makes an individualized determination under Florida Statutes 903.011(6) and 903.046 and Rule 3.131. Prior supervision status and recent arrest history change the answer even when the charge itself is minor.
Source: fljud13.org
The Hillsborough County Clerk of Court states that after a felony arrest the county jail sends the initial paperwork to the Clerk's felony department. That department prepares the official court file, including the original arrest document and any release forms, and forwards it to the Office of the State Attorney. The State Attorney then determines whether to file formal charges. Once charges are filed with the Clerk, the defendant is notified by mail of an arraignment date, sent to the address provided at the time of arrest, and the bail bond agent is also notified if the defendant bonded out. The felony department cannot change a court date once notice has gone out.
Why it matters: An arrest is not a filed charge, and the gap between them is where people assume a case has gone away. The notice that resumes it goes to whatever address was recorded at booking, so anyone who moved, or who gave a temporary address, can miss a court date they never saw. Missing it does not pause the case.
Source: hillsclerk.com
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