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juvenile

Sections 943.0515 and 985.04 of the Florida Statutes provides for an abbreviated retention of criminal history records of minors. Those provisions are as follows:

1.

The criminal history record of a minor who is classified as a serious or habitual juvenile offender or committed to a juvenile correctional facility or juvenile prison for 5 years after the date the offender reaches 21 years of age, at which time the record shall be expunged unless paragraph 3, below, applies;

2.

If the minor is not classified as a serious or habitual juvenile offender or committed to a juvenile correctional facility or juvenile prison under chapter 985, the program shall retain the minor's criminal history record for 5 years after the date the minor reaches 19 years of age, at which time the record shall be expunged unless paragraph 3, below, applies;

3.

If a person 18 years of age or older, or a minor is adjudicated as an adult, is charged with or convicted of a forcible felony and the person's criminal history record as a minor has not yet been destroyed, the person's record as a minor must be merged with the person's adult criminal history record and must be retained as a part of the person's adult record; or

Further, if the minor was adjudicated delinquent after July 1, 2007 of one of the sexual offenses listed in 943.0435, the record will not be destroyed.

Additionally, Florida law provides that an arrest that occurred while an individual was a juvenile may be eligible to apply for a Juvenile Diversion Expunction.  If a juvenile has successfully completed a pre arrest, post arrest, or teen court diversion program, that individual may apply to have that incident expunged.  A juvenile diversion expunction does not count as a sealing/expungement for purposes discussed in this website, so that individual may still apply for a sealing/expungement if they are arrested again later.  However, an application for a juvenile diversion expunction must be filed within six (6) months of completing the diversion program.  After that time frame, the individual would have to apply for a regular sealing or expungement.  We are happy to help you apply for juvenile expunction (the fee for a juvenile expunction application is $275, plus the $75.00 application fee); please contact as soon as possible so you do not miss out on your window of opportunity!