Should you find yourself with criminal records, know that all hope isn’t lost for you. Expunging your criminal record can help you progress more smoothly in your life, whether in your personal undertakings – such as when investing in a property – or at a professional level, such as when landing your dream job.
Are you a resident of Florida finding yourself in this situation? There are several law firms here, such as Erase the Case, that can help in the success of the process of expungement. But, one of the questions clients ask is, how many times can they expunge their criminal record? Let’s answer the query in this guide.
According to Florida Statute Section 943.059 and Section 943.0585, you can only expunge your criminal record once in your lifetime. This means that if you have multiple arrests or cases, you can only have one of them expunged.
However, before you can do so and perhaps coordinate with record expungement specialists, you must prove your eligibility.
You may be eligible for expungement if you were not charged with a crime, had your charges dismissed, or were found not guilty. Eligibility also makes it through if you were a juvenile who committed a non-violent crime and have not committed any other crimes since.
Some clients understandably need additional expungements. Is this possible? Yes, it is, despite the solid statement from the clause discussed above.
While Florida law generally only allows for the expungement or sealing of just one arrest or incident of an alleged criminal act, you can expunge or seal more than one arrest or incident of criminal activity, provided you can present the episodes have adequate relationship or “nexus.” This is commonly referred to as “nexus requirement.”
The nexus requirement in the state’s law regarding expungement is the pre-requisite that multiple arrests or incidents of criminal activity be related or have a “nexus.” That is, the court may order the expungement of more than one arrest if the additional arrests are directly related to the original arrest.
Expungement of more than one arrest or incident of an alleged criminal act is hinged upon legislation enacted in 2019, making it lawful if an arrest was directly related to self-defense. This makes the concession limited but still helpful if your case is related to self-defense, such as acting against a person committing domestic violence.
However, the following requirements must be satisfied to obtain a lawful self-defense expungement of a criminal history record:
In other words, while there are instances when you can expunge a record more than once in Florida, this is limited to just incidents related to protecting yourself, such as in the scenario of domestic violence.
Each person is only given one opportunity to seal or expunge a criminal record in their lifetime. If a person has multiple arrests, they must use their best judgment to determine which one of the eligible criminal records they want to be sealed or expunged.
During instances when one arrest leads to numerous charges or cases, only the court holds the discretion to expunge the criminal history record in full or partial.
While you can generally just expunge your record once in Florida throughout your lifetime, doing so goes a long way.
Having an arrest or a conviction record expunged can benefit you in many ways, such as:
More importantly, it also helps when you want to start and grow your own family or join state-supported programs.
Want to expunge your criminal record in Florida without the hassle? Coordinate with the lawyers at Erase the Case. They are highly skilled and experienced in the field, willing to guide you every step of the way. Fulfill your future.
It typically takes five to seven months, depending on court and agency processing times.
Only certain felonies are eligible; violent or serious felonies are typically ineligible.
No, only one arrest or incident per expungement petition.
