Expunging Your Criminal Record in Sarasota, FL

Having an arrest on your criminal record can impact your personal and professional life, as well as future employment and educational opportunities. If you were arrested and the charges were later dropped or dismissed, you are eligible to have your record expunged. Contact the best Sarasota criminal defense attorney at Pallegar Law, P.A. to find out how to clear your record.

If you have your criminal record expunged, that will remove all record of the arrest. You can legally deny the arrest if you are asked, and it will not show up on a criminal background check. The arrest will be hidden from the entire public, and is only available to criminal justice agencies if they have a court order. Effectively, expunging your record gives you a clean slate for the future, and you will never have to disclose the information. However, you cannot legally deny the arrests if you are currently involved in a criminal case, applying for immigration, applying for admission to the Florida Bar, or are seeking employment with the Department of Children and Family Services, a criminal justice agency, or any private school.

The expungement process is quite long, and may take up to nine months. Much of this time is due to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). Every expungement application in Florida must go to FDLE first, and they will then issue a Certificate of Eligibility so that a court can order the expungement of your record. If you or someone you know is eligible to have their record expunged, contact an experienced Sarasota criminal defense attorney at Pallegar Law, P.A.

Once you contact our Sarasota office to begin the expungment process, you will be given a set of documents to complete and have notarized. You will also have to get your fingerprints taken. These documents are part of the application that will be sent to FDLE. After that, your attorney will wait for FDLE to issue a certificate so that he can petition the court for the expungement.. After hiring a knowledgeable Sarasota Criminal Defense Attorney, you will simply complete some paperwork and then sit back and wait until your record is expunged.

There are several reasons why you may not be eligible to have your record expunged. You may not be eligible if you have had a prior arrest expunged (even in another state), if you have an open criminal case, or if your charges were not dismissed or dropped. If you received a withhold of adjudication, you may be eligible to have your record sealed. You will not be able to seal or expunge a withhold of adjudication if the charge was one of the following: arson, aggravated assault or battery, child abuse, homicide, robbery, carjacking, or sexual battery. (A full list of offenses can be found in Section 943.059 of the Florida Statutes).

After your record has been sealed for ten years, you may be eligible to have it expunged. You are only eligible to have one arrest expunged from your record, or multiple arrests that are found to be directly connected (like two arrests from the same incident).

Having your record expunged can be like taking a weight off of your shoulders. We can remove that one “black spot” from your record and change your life. Contact an experienced Sarasota criminal defense attorney at Pallegar Law, P.A. today. Call 941-893-5816 to be connected to someone who can help.