| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to administrative expunction of |
| 3 | nonjudicial arrest records; amending s. 943.0581, F.S.; |
| 4 | requiring the arresting law enforcement agency to apply to |
| 5 | the Department of Law Enforcement for the administrative |
| 6 | expunction of certain nonjudicial records of arrest; |
| 7 | authorizing certain persons to apply directly to the |
| 8 | department for administrative expunction in certain |
| 9 | circumstances; requiring such persons to support such |
| 10 | application with an endorsement; requiring an affidavit; |
| 11 | providing that an application, endorsement, or affidavit |
| 12 | may not be admitted into evidence or construed as an |
| 13 | admission of liability; providing an effective date. |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 16 |
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| 17 | Section 1. Section 943.0581, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 18 | to read: |
| 19 | 943.0581 Administrative expunction.-- |
| 20 | (1) Notwithstanding any law dealing generally with the |
| 21 | preservation and destruction of public records, the department |
| 22 | may provide, by rule adopted pursuant to chapter 120, for the |
| 23 | administrative expunction of any nonjudicial record of an arrest |
| 24 | of a minor or an adult made contrary to law or by mistake. |
| 25 | (2) A law enforcement agency shall apply to the department |
| 26 | in the manner prescribed by rule for the administrative |
| 27 | expunction of any nonjudicial record of any arrest of a minor or |
| 28 | an adult who is subsequently determined by the agency, at its |
| 29 | discretion, or by the final order of a court of competent |
| 30 | jurisdiction, to have been arrested contrary to law or by |
| 31 | mistake. |
| 32 | (3) An adult or, in the case of a minor child, the parent |
| 33 | or legal guardian of the minor child, may apply to the |
| 34 | department in the manner prescribed by rule for the |
| 35 | administrative expunction of any nonjudicial record of an arrest |
| 36 | alleged to have been made contrary to law or by mistake, |
| 37 | provided that the application is supported by the endorsement of |
| 38 | the head of the arresting agency or the state attorney of the |
| 39 | judicial circuit in which the arrest occurred. |
| 40 | (4) An application for administrative expunction shall |
| 41 | include an affidavit executed by the chief of the law |
| 42 | enforcement agency, sheriff, or department head of the state law |
| 43 | enforcement agency, which affidavit verifies that he or she has |
| 44 | reviewed the record of the arrest and that the arrest was |
| 45 | contrary to law or a mistake. |
| 46 | (5) No application, endorsement, or affidavit made under |
| 47 | this section shall be admissible as evidence in any judicial or |
| 48 | administrative proceeding or otherwise be construed in any way |
| 49 | as an admission of liability in connection with an arrest. |
| 50 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |