Guidelines for Sealing or Expunging a Record

In order to determine eligibility to have your cased sealed or expunged, you will first need to obtain an application to seal or expunge your case records by visiting the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) website at www.fdle.state.fl.us/expunge.

The purpose of this application process is to obtain a Certificate of Eligibility prior to petitioning the court.

The packet consists of the application and fingerprint card. You must be fingerprinted by authorized law enforcement personnel or a criminal justice agency.

You will also need a certified copy of the final disposition of your case. You can obtain certified copies of the final disposition on the case(s) from the Clerk's office.
The copies of the dispositions are $1.00 per page and $2.00 per certification. You may contact the Clerk's Office at 727-464-7000 or via email at circuitcrim@pinellascounty.org for further information on how to obtain copies.

Once you have completed the application and fingerprint card, and obtained certified copies of your dispositions, all of these items, plus a cashier's check or money order for $75 (seventy five dollars) made payable to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, must be mailed to the address listed on the application.

If you are eligible to have your case sealed or expunged, the FDLE will mail a Certificate of Eligibility to you.

You will need to bring this certificate to the Clerks Office at the Criminal Justice Center, 14250 49th Street North, 2nd Floor.

At the Clerks Office you will complete additional paperwork that must be filled out for the Judge that will be reviewing your case. This paperwork includes the petition, affidavit and an order to seal or expunge, all of which must be filed with the court.
The filing fee is $42 plus copy and certification fees. The total fee is approximately $50 to $60.

Upon the filing of the Order granting the petition to seal or expunge the case record and file, the Clerk will remove all information from your judicial record and forward certified copies of the order to the appropriate agencies.