When a person is charged with a crime or convicted of a crime, the information stays on the person’s criminal record and may be accessed by the court or other federal, state, municipal, or county agencies—or by private persons or entities conducting a background check. Under limited circumstances a person with a criminal record of arrest or conviction may be able to have the criminal record expunged—meaning the record will be permanently destroyed or deleted so it is no longer accessible by the court or other federal, state, municipal, or county agencies—or by private persons or entities conducting a background check.

Such an expungement or expunction of a criminal record is different from having a record sealed—which means the record still exists, but access to it is limited. A person whose only criminal record has been expunged may truthfully answer “no” when asked on an employment, licensing, or other application whether the person has ever been convicted of a crime. Under both state and federal law, in most cases it is not possible to have a person’s criminal conviction expunged.

Under state laws a person who has been convicted of a crime, pleaded guilty, or pleaded no contest (nolo contendere) is often ineligible to have their criminal record expunged. When a person is eligible to have a criminal record expunged, it is often dependent upon the person successfully completing a probation or deferred adjudication program. And in some states juveniles may be eligible to have a criminal record expunged if the criminal offense was committed before they turned 17 years of age, for example.

Expungement or expunction laws vary from state to state and are generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In Florida, expungement (also known as expunction) is a legal process that results in the removal and destruction of a person's criminal record from public view. However, not all records are eligible for expungement. Generally, a person who has been convicted of a crime, or who has pleaded guilty or no contest, cannot have their record expunged. Expungement in Florida is typically available for individuals who were arrested but not convicted, provided that they have not been found guilty of a crime or similar offense and have not had a prior criminal record sealed or expunged. There are also special provisions for juvenile records. The eligibility for expungement often requires the completion of a diversion program, probation, or deferred adjudication. Sealing a record, on the other hand, restricts access to the record but does not destroy it. Once a record is expunged in Florida, a person can lawfully deny or fail to acknowledge the arrests covered by the expunged record in most circumstances. The specific procedures and eligibility requirements for expungement or sealing of records are detailed in Florida statutes, particularly within the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure.