Palm Beach County Expungement Lawyer
A criminal record follows you in ways that are easy to underestimate until you are already dealing with the consequences. A failed background check for an apartment. A job offer that quietly disappears. A professional license application that gets denied or delayed. Florida law gives eligible people a real path to sealing or expunging their records, but the eligibility rules are narrow, the paperwork is technical, and one misstep can result in a denial that closes the door for years. Working with a Palm Beach County expungement lawyer who understands the Florida Department of Law Enforcement process and the Palm Beach County court system matters more than most people realize before they start.
What Florida’s Expungement and Sealing Laws Actually Allow
Florida treats expungement and sealing as distinct remedies, and the difference is not just semantic. When a record is sealed, the criminal history becomes confidential, hidden from most public background checks but still accessible to certain agencies and employers. When a record is expunged, the physical and electronic records are destroyed or returned to the petitioner, and the person can legally deny that the arrest or charge ever occurred in most contexts. Both outcomes have real value. Which one applies to your situation depends entirely on the disposition of your case and your broader criminal history.
Florida law limits each person to one expungement and one sealing in a lifetime. That limitation alone means the decision about when and how to file deserves careful thought, not a rushed application. The statutes governing this process are found primarily in Florida Statute Section 943.0585 for expungements and Florida Statute Section 943.059 for sealing, and both set out eligibility requirements that apply before the petition can even be filed.
- You must obtain a Certificate of Eligibility from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement before filing your petition in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
- A prior adjudication of guilt on any charge in Florida or any other state generally disqualifies you from expungement, even if the prior offense seems minor.
- Certain serious offenses, including most sexual offenses, domestic violence crimes, and specific violent felonies, are statutorily ineligible regardless of the disposition.
- For expungement, your case must have been dismissed, nolle prossed, or otherwise resolved without a conviction, and no charges arising from the same arrest can have resulted in a conviction.
- For sealing, the charge must have resulted in a withhold of adjudication, meaning the court found you guilty but declined to formally convict you.
Getting the Certificate of Eligibility wrong is one of the most common reasons petitions stall. FDLE reviews your complete criminal history across all jurisdictions when processing that application, and any charge you overlooked or were unaware of can result in a denial. An attorney who routinely handles these petitions knows how to pull and review your full history before anything gets submitted.
Why Palm Beach County Cases Have Their Own Quirks
The 15th Judicial Circuit covers Palm Beach County, and the clerk’s office and state attorney’s office there have their own procedural expectations for expungement petitions. The State Attorney’s Office reviews petitions before they reach a judge, and their office’s position on a given petition can influence how the hearing proceeds. Prosecutors do not rubber-stamp these applications. In some cases, they object. Having a lawyer who has navigated this process in Palm Beach County, and who understands how the local judges and prosecutors approach expungement hearings, makes a meaningful difference.
Palm Beach County also has a significant population of people who were arrested in connection with tourism, entertainment districts, and hospitality venues. A single arrest from years ago, resolved favorably, can still appear on background checks and affect employment in the hotel, hospitality, and financial services industries that are common in this market. For people working in or trying to break into those fields, the difference between a sealed or expunged record and a visible one can genuinely affect their livelihood.
Questions People Ask Before Filing in Palm Beach County
If my case was dropped or I was never charged after an arrest, can I expunge the arrest record?
In most cases, yes. An arrest without charges, or a case that was dropped before trial, is one of the cleaner situations for expungement under Florida law. The key is confirming that you have no prior adjudications and that the underlying offense is not one of the enumerated ineligible offenses under Florida Statute 943.0585. You still need to go through the full FDLE certification and circuit court petition process.
How long does the expungement process take in Palm Beach County?
From the time you submit your FDLE application to the date you have a signed court order in hand, the process typically runs four to six months. FDLE processing alone takes several months, and after your petition is filed with the clerk’s office, there is an additional period for the state attorney to review and respond before a hearing is scheduled. Rushing this process is rarely an option, which is another reason to start as soon as you know you qualify.
Can I seal or expunge a felony in Florida?
Some felonies are eligible, but many are not. Whether a felony arrest or charge qualifies depends on the specific offense and how the case was resolved. Violent felonies, sexual offenses, and a list of enumerated crimes under Florida law are permanently ineligible. A felony that was dropped or resulted in a withhold of adjudication may still qualify if it does not fall on that ineligible list. This is a situation where reviewing the specifics of the charge with an attorney before filing is essential.
Will an expunged record still show up on background checks?
For most civilian background checks, no. Once expunged, Florida law allows you to deny the arrest or charge except in specific circumstances, such as when applying for a position with a criminal justice agency, seeking admission to the Florida Bar, or applying for certain professional licenses. Some federal background check systems may retain the record depending on how data was shared with federal agencies before expungement occurred. Your attorney should walk you through these exceptions so you know exactly what to expect.
What happens if FDLE denies my Certificate of Eligibility?
A denial typically means there is something in your criminal history that FDLE identified as disqualifying. That could be a prior adjudication you were not aware of, an out-of-state record, or a prior expungement or sealing that exhausted your eligibility. Denials can sometimes be challenged if FDLE made an error in reviewing your record, but you need to act on that promptly and with a clear understanding of what the record actually shows.
Does sealing or expunging my record affect my ability to own a firearm?
If the underlying arrest or charge involved an offense that resulted in a conviction, the firearm question is driven by that conviction, not by the expungement. Expunging or sealing a record does not automatically restore firearm rights that were lost through a conviction. If your case was resolved without a conviction and there is no separate disqualifying history, a completed expungement generally does not create a firearm rights issue, but this is an area where individual circumstances matter and should be reviewed directly.
Can juvenile records be expunged separately from adult records?
Florida has a separate process for juvenile records under Florida Statute 943.0515, and those do not count against the one-expungement limit that applies to adult records in the same way. However, juvenile records that resulted in an adjudication of delinquency for certain serious offenses have different rules. If you have both juvenile and adult records you are hoping to address, the order and strategy for addressing them should be mapped out before you file anything.
Getting a Clean Record in Palm Beach County Starts Here
At Koether Law, P.A., Stephanie Koether provides the kind of direct, personal attention that these petitions require. Expungement and sealing are technical proceedings where the details of your history and the accuracy of your paperwork determine the outcome. From reviewing your complete criminal record before any application is submitted, to preparing the petition and appearing for your hearing in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, this office handles the process in full. If you are ready to find out whether your record qualifies for sealing or expungement, contact Koether Law to get started with a Palm Beach County expungement attorney who will give your case the attention it deserves.
