| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to criminal history records of juveniles; |
| 3 | creating s. 943.05825, F.S.; providing for the automatic |
| 4 | sealing of records of juvenile offenses upon completion of |
| 5 | sentence; providing exceptions; providing for the effect |
| 6 | of sealing; providing for application of other specified |
| 7 | provisions relating to expunction and sealing of records; |
| 8 | providing an effective date. |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Section 1. Section 943.05825, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 13 | to read: |
| 14 | 943.05825 Automatic sealing of juvenile records.- |
| 15 | (1) Notwithstanding any other law, the criminal history |
| 16 | record of any juvenile offenses committed by a juvenile shall be |
| 17 | automatically sealed upon the juvenile's completion of all |
| 18 | sentences for those offenses, except for the record of any |
| 19 | offense for which the juvenile was: |
| 20 | (a) Transferred to the adult system under s. 985.557, |
| 21 | indicted under s. 985.56, or waived into the adult system under |
| 22 | s. 985.556; or |
| 23 | (b) Transferred to the adult system but sentenced to the |
| 24 | juvenile system under s. 985.565. |
| 25 | (2) As used in this section, the term "sealed" or |
| 26 | "sealing" has the same meaning in effect and ascribed in s. |
| 27 | 943.059, excluding s. 943.059(4)(a), except that the criminal |
| 28 | history record of a person whose record is sealed pursuant to |
| 29 | this section shall be made available only to criminal justice |
| 30 | agencies for the purpose of determining eligibility for |
| 31 | prearrest, postarrest, or teen court diversion programs; when |
| 32 | the record is sought as part of a criminal investigation; or |
| 33 | when the subject of the record is a candidate for employment |
| 34 | with a criminal justice agency. For all other purposes, a person |
| 35 | whose record is sealed under this section may lawfully deny or |
| 36 | fail to acknowledge the arrest and the charge covered by the |
| 37 | sealed record. |
| 38 | (3) Sealing granted under this section does not prevent |
| 39 | the juvenile who receives such relief from petitioning for the |
| 40 | expunction or sealing of a later criminal history record as |
| 41 | provided in ss. 943.0585 and 943.059 if the juvenile is |
| 42 | otherwise eligible under those sections. |
| 43 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011. |