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(727) 828-3900 While expungement of criminal records is a very useful way to move past previous brushes with law enforcement by having all documents related to those proceedings physically destroyed, it is not available to every person who has faced criminal prosecution in Florida. Under certain circumstances, though, someone who is not eligible for expungement in the Sunshine State may still be eligible to apply for their records to be “sealed,” which is a broadly similar process with many of the same benefits.
As valuable as record sealing in St. Petersburg can be, it is not a case outcome that is easy to accomplish by any means, nor is it something you want to try pursuing without professional legal support. Fortunately, you have help available from dedicated record-sealing attorneys who will fight tirelessly on your behalf to get the best possible resolution for you from this unique legal process.
One of the primary differences between expungement and record sealing in St. Petersburg is the kinds of criminal records that are eligible for both procedures. Broadly speaking, expungement is reserved strictly for cases where someone’s charges were dismissed, dropped, or resulted in an acquittal in criminal court, whereas record sealing is allowed for cases where the defendant’s charges were not dropped but the defendant was not adjudicated guilty for one reason or another.
Other prerequisite conditions for record-sealing eligibility in Florida include:
There are also several disqualifying offenses listed under FL Stat. §943.059, which are ineligible for record sealing if any plea or verdict was entered in response to the charge, even if the applicant meets all the other criteria listed above.
Generally speaking, once records are sealed through a St. Petersburg sealing petition, no member of the public can access those records through legal means. Furthermore, the person whose records have been sealed is not obligated to acknowledge related arrest(s) and can lawfully deny that those arrests ever occurred.
That said, there are some circumstances where someone may lawfully access sealed records in Florida, most notably if the person to whom those records pertain is applying for a job in law enforcement or corrections, applying for a job in education, or seeking to purchase a firearm or obtain a concealed carry license. A qualified attorney can go over these circumstances and offer further guidance about the record-sealing process as a whole during a confidential consultation.
Getting criminal records sealed can be crucial to ensuring that one prior encounter with law enforcement that did not result in a criminal conviction does not unfairly impact the rest of your life. However, record sealing in St. Petersburg cases is also a very complex process with a lot of strictly enforced rules and restrictions placed on it by state law—something that many applicants without legal representation, unfortunately, learn the hard way.
Assistance from knowledgeable legal professionals will go a long way towards streamlining this process for you and improving your chances of getting the favorable outcome you want from it. Call today to discuss your options.
