The Florida Department of Law Enforcement WILL NOT issue a Certificate of Eligibility to seal or expunge your Florida arrest record if you have ever been convicted (adjudicated guilty) of any criminal offense, even if that conviction occurred outside of the State of Florida.
When you submit an application to seal or expunge your Florida criminal record, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) will run a nationwide background check to make sure that you have no outstanding warrants, no pending criminal charges, and no criminal convictions.
Prior arrests are fine. So are prior withholds of adjudication. You just cannot have any prior convictions. Any state. Any time in your life. For any criminal offense.
This includes convictions for criminal traffic offenses, DUIs, and municipal ordinance violations.
Eric Matheny is a Florida sealing and expungement attorney who will seal and expunge criminal records in all 67 Florida Counties.