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If you were arrested on suspicion of a criminal offense but were not ultimately convicted of any wrongdoing, seeking to have relevant records expunged could be key to protecting your long-term best interests. That said, not everyone who is accused of a crime in Florida is eligible to apply for this legal remedy, and even those who are eligible may find that the petitioning process for expungement is a lot more complicated than they expected.
Guidance from a dependable expungement lawyer can be crucial to getting through this process as quickly and effectively as possible and navigating around legal and procedural roadblocks along the way. In the meantime, here is a brief overview of what factors may affect your expungement eligibility in St. Petersburg and what a court will expect you to demonstrate before your petition will even have a chance at being granted.
First and foremost, Florida residents are not eligible to apply for expungement of criminal records if the case in question resulted in them being formally indicted or having any other charging document filed against them, unless that charge was later dismissed or subject to a nolle pros. People who were formally charged with and prosecuted for a crime but ultimately were acquitted or otherwise were not adjudicated guilty of that crime may be eligible to have related records sealed, but typically cannot seek the permanent destruction of those records through expungement.
In order to be eligible for expungement in St. Petersburg, an applicant cannot have been granted expungement or sealing of any other criminal record in the past under Florida state law. Additionally, they cannot have any other outstanding petitions for expungement or sealing of records for a different case other than the one for which they are currently seeking expungement.
No one who has been previously convicted or adjudicated guilty of a criminal offense in adult criminal court is eligible to have records related to a subsequent criminal case expunged in St. Petersburg. Likewise, no one adjudicated delinquent for any of the juvenile offenses listed in Florida Statutes §943.051(3)(b) will be eligible to apply for expungement of those or other criminal records as an adult.
Finally, there are certain offenses that are not eligible for expungement even if there was no adjudication of guilt and no formal indictment, including but not limited to:
A full list of disqualifying offenses for expungement is outlined in FL Stat. §543.0585, which also establishes most other rules for expungement applications in the Sunshine State.
While this is not a fully comprehensive look at what determines expungement eligibility in St. Petersburg, it should give you a fairly good idea of what to expect from the process and what kinds of records may be worth pursuing expungement of in the first place. Regardless of your past or future, though, you should know that getting a favorable result from expungement proceedings is not something you should expect to accomplish entirely on your own.
By working closely with compassionate legal representatives who understand what you are going through and will fight tenaciously to help you enforce your rights, you will have far better chances of successfully applying for expungement. Call today to set up a private consultation and discuss your options.