Automatic Expunged Criminal Records

Answer:

Since we’ve represented a lot of clients who’ve been accused by a crime, they’ve resolved their crimes by a plea, they’ve resolved their crimes by having the prosecuting authority dismiss their case or not charge the case, we’ve dealt with expungements and sealings many times. One question we get often is, will it just go away? Will it just disappear? The simple answer to that is no, it won’t. As a person who’s accused of a crime and charged with a crime, whether you were just simply arrested or whether you’ve entered into a probation or some other type of sentence or agreement with the state, your criminal record follows you forever unless you do something about it.

The state of Florida allows under certain circumstances for certain individuals to apply to have their records sealed or expunged. This must be done by the client. They must be proactive, and they must get that application done, and they must get the final order sealed by a judge. None of that happens automatically. None of it happens at the end of the case. Sometimes we see this more often in situations where let’s say a first-time offender was referred to a diversion program, and the diversion program can be oftentimes sold to first-time offenders as a thing of beauty because once they’re done with the diversion program, they’ve complied with all the regulations, they’ve complied with all the sanctions, they’ve complied with the time of supervision, then the case is dropped, so many of my clients have thought that the fact that your case is dropped at the end of a diversionary program means that the case just goes away and that your record is sealed and expunged, and it can no longer ever be found. This is very untrue.

Even if your case is a case where you’ve just been arrested and the prosecuting authority didn’t decide to prosecute you or they dropped the case, your arrest is still out there for everyone to see. Now, if it’s a case that you were arrested and charged with and you were either – it went to trial and you – it could be either one. You could be acquitted, or you could be convicted, or you enter a plea, any of those scenarios, you’re still going to have a criminal record that could be seen by anyone. The only way to get rid of that is to actively petition to have your record sealed or expunged.

We would highly recommend that if you find yourself in that situation, that you get an attorney involved as soon as possible, as soon as you’re done with your claim, however it was resolved, whether it was dismissed, whether you pled out, whether you went to trial and you were acquitted or whatever the case may be, you need to get someone involved to help you through that process. That way you can ensure the best possible outcome and get your record sealed or expunged. If you have any other questions about record sealing of a criminal case in Orlando, Florida, please call the Victory Law Firm.