Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

Re: Question about Criminal Record

Hey, I just read your question. You can seal the record of a disposed case under certain circumstances. Basically, if you were NOT adjudicated guilty of the crime, and you have NEVER been adjudicated guilty on any other crime.

To further explain, when someone pleads to a charge to get it over with, the Court will declare either an ADJUDICATION OF GUILT or a WITHHOLD OF ADJUDICATION OF GUILT. A withhold is NOT a conviction. Thus, if that person was ever answering a question of whether he or she was convicted of a crime, he could say no. An adjudication of guilt is a conviction.

To seal a record, you fill out a form with F.D.L.E. They require a small filing fee and a fingerprint card from a local police dept. I am handling one of these for a client now, so I will be researching to see what other steps are needed.

I am in Jax. so if my office can be of further assistance to you on this or other matters in the future, please contact us. 'Hope this helps. Tom Rosenblum