Expunge Your Criminal Record

If you have a criminal record it is quite probable that during this economic downturn you have heard the term "expungement" or "expunge criminal record."  You may not be sure what it means or you may be confused about it but you are sure you'd like to find out more.

What can an expungement do for me?

An expungement can help people that have a criminal record that is causing them to be overlooked for jobs, promotions, leased housing or even financial loans.  In Florida the term expungement, for purposes of this discussion, will also include record sealings.  An expungement or having your criminal record expunged literally removes it from the "public record."

What is the "Public Record"?

In Florida just about any record that originates from any government agency is considered a "public record."  A public record is open and available for everyone to see that just so happens to want to see it.  This means that your criminal record is a public record and you can find information regarding it online and can actually view the real court record if you asked for it at the Clerk of Courts.  This also means that private companies that collect public records will sell your information to whoever pays for it.

Will a Record Expungement remove my Criminal Record from the Public Record?

Yes.  Now let's clarify what that means.  The public record is the official record that originates within the government.  This includes County records such as those generated by the Clerk of Court, Police records, Sheriff's records, records generated at the Office of the State Attorney, and records maintained by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.  All of these records are affected when you have your criminal record sealed or expunged.  When I say "affected" that means these records are removed from the public record within all of these agencies and some agencies are actually required to physically destroy such records.

Is there an Seal or Expunge catch?

Yes.  Unfortunately, there are literally hundreds of private companies within and outside the United States that buy, trade, and sell information collected from public records.  These companies call themselves such things as "background checks" and "background data" companies.  You may see ads for these companies on TV or have had a potential job or apartment turn you down because of what one of these companies have said.

An order expunging or sealing your criminal record does not go out to all of those companies.  This means that these private companies continue to disperse your criminal background information to anyone that pays for it.  These companies believe that they are protected because the information they disperse is a public record - anyone can view it.  However, once an order is issued either sealing or expunging your record it is no longer a public record and privacy laws kick into place.

What Can I Do About Private Companies?

Some of the private companies will regularly update there records and look out for sealed and expunged records so that they can purge their data.  Others will purge their data once they are informed of the court order.  As technology evolves and live feeds to public records becomes common place expunged and sealed records will disappear from these companies data automatically.  However, today they must still be informed.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act the law requires that information used in this way be available to you so that you know what is being said and who is saying it.  You may have to ask - but ask and get that information.

What Not to Do...

If your criminal record has been expunged or sealed pursuant to Florida law you have the lawful ability to deny that the arrest ever occurred.  There are several exceptions to this ability but for the most part do not admit that your record has been sealed or expunged.  If confronted with a private company disclosure utilize your ability to deny that the arrest reported is correct.

With a sealed or expunged criminal record you can deny any information relating to that arrest and get the Clerk of Court to provide you with a certified records check that indicates that no record exists.  You can also receive a background check through FDLE that will not show the expunged or sealed arrest.  Armed with these documents you can back-up your denial.

Why isn't anything being done about these private companies?

It would be very difficult to regulate these companies although there are efforts to do just that.  Instead you must rely on civil remedies which include defamation.  Many of these companies will remove the information once they know it has been expunged or sealed.  We provide our clients with a certified order so that they can provide copies to any company that continues to disclose expunged or sealed criminal records.

If you have further questions you can review our Expungement FAQs page or just call us.  We will be happy to answer your questions regarding Florida expungement law.

 

Orlando Expungement Attorney Eric J Dirga

"I find that most people do not fully understand the impact of an expungement or how expungements and sealed records really work.  I explain a laundry list of things I think are important to make sure expunging or sealing a record is right for them.  I do all this before a client hires me "