A criminal record can be a bar to certain types of employment, licensing, holding public office, and even the right to vote. Most states allow for a process called expungement that will remove certain arrests or criminal convictions from the offender’s record.

Depending upon the laws of the state in which you live and the nature of the crime, you may be able to get an arrest or conviction sealed or erased from your legal record. After the expungement process is complete, you will not need to disclose the conviction on a job or school application, and in most instances no record of the arrest or conviction will show up during a public records inspection or background check commonly done by potential employers, landlords, and educational institutions.

An expunged arrest or conviction may not be completely erased, however, and ordinarily will remain an accessible part of a person's criminal record, accessible to certain government agencies, including law enforcement and the criminal courts. This limited accessibility is also known as a criminal record being "under seal." In some legal proceedings, an expunged conviction that is under seal may still be considered as proof of a prior conviction.

In Florida, the laws and rules regarding expunction or sealing of criminal history record(s) include: Sections s.943.0585 - s.943.059, Florida Statutes and Chapter 11C-7, Florida Administrative Code. The first step in the expunction process is to make application to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for a Certificate of Eligibility; however, the issuance of a Certificate of Eligibility does not necessarily mean that a criminal history record will be ordered sealed or expunged. It merely indicates that an individual is statutorily eligible to ask for an expungement in the state of Florida. 

For more information, or to download the required documents needed for an expunction or sealing of criminal history records in Florida, go to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement website.