Florida Senate - 2016                                     SB 274
       
       
        
       By Senator Smith
       
       
       
       
       
       31-00183-16                                            2016274__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to criminal history records of
    3         juveniles; creating s. 943.05825, F.S.; providing for
    4         the automatic sealing of records of juvenile offenses
    5         upon completion of sentence; providing exceptions;
    6         defining terms; providing for the effect of sealing;
    7         providing for application of other specified
    8         provisions relating to expunction and sealing of
    9         records; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Section 943.05825, Florida Statutes, is created
   14  to read:
   15         943.05825 Automatic sealing of juvenile records.—
   16         (1) Notwithstanding any other law, the criminal history
   17  record of any offenses committed by a juvenile must be
   18  automatically sealed upon the juvenile’s completion of all
   19  sentences for those offenses, except for the record of any
   20  offense for which the juvenile was:
   21         (a) Transferred to the adult system under s. 985.557,
   22  indicted under s. 985.56, waived into the adult system under s.
   23  985.556; or
   24         (b) Transferred to the adult system but sentenced to the
   25  juvenile system under s. 985.565.
   26         (2) As used in this section, the term “sealed” or “sealing”
   27  has the same meaning as described in s. 943.059, excluding s.
   28  943.059(4)(a), except that the criminal history record of a
   29  person whose record is sealed pursuant to this section shall be
   30  made available only to criminal justice agencies for the purpose
   31  of determining eligibility for prearrest, postarrest, or teen
   32  court diversion programs; if the record is sought as part of a
   33  criminal investigation; or if the subject of the record is a
   34  candidate for employment with a criminal justice agency. For all
   35  other purposes, a person whose record is sealed under this
   36  section may lawfully deny or fail to acknowledge the arrest and
   37  the charge covered by the sealed record.
   38         (3) Sealing granted under this section does not prevent the
   39  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, 2016.