Florida Senate - 2021                                     SB 274
       
       
        
       By Senator Perry
       
       
       
       
       
       8-00575-21                                             2021274__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to juvenile diversion program
    3         expunction; amending s. 943.0582, F.S.; requiring the
    4         Department of Law Enforcement to expunge the
    5         nonjudicial arrest record of certain minors who have
    6         successfully completed a diversion program for any
    7         offense, rather than only a misdemeanor offense;
    8         amending s. 985.126, F.S.; authorizing a minor who
    9         successfully completes a diversion program for any
   10         offense, rather than only for a first-time misdemeanor
   11         offense, to lawfully deny or fail to acknowledge
   12         certain information; providing an effective date.
   13  
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Subsection (1) and paragraph (b) of subsection
   17  (3) of section 943.0582, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   18         943.0582 Diversion program expunction.—
   19         (1) Notwithstanding any law dealing generally with the
   20  preservation and destruction of public records, the department
   21  shall adopt rules to provide for the expunction of a nonjudicial
   22  record of the arrest of a minor who has successfully completed a
   23  diversion program for a misdemeanor offense.
   24         (3) The department shall expunge the nonjudicial arrest
   25  record of a minor who has successfully completed a diversion
   26  program if that minor:
   27         (b) Submits to the department, with the application, an
   28  official written statement from the state attorney for the
   29  county in which the arrest occurred certifying that he or she
   30  has successfully completed that county’s diversion program, that
   31  his or her participation in the program was based on an arrest
   32  for a misdemeanor, and that he or she has not otherwise been
   33  charged by the state attorney with, or found to have committed,
   34  any criminal offense or comparable ordinance violation.
   35         Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 985.126, Florida
   36  Statutes, is amended to read:
   37         985.126 Diversion programs; data collection; denial of
   38  participation or expunged record.—
   39         (5) A minor who successfully completes a diversion program
   40  for a first-time misdemeanor offense may lawfully deny or fail
   41  to acknowledge his or her participation in the program and an
   42  expunction of a nonjudicial arrest record under s. 943.0582,
   43  unless the inquiry is made by a criminal justice agency, as
   44  defined in s. 943.045, for a purpose described in s.
   45  943.0582(2)(b)1.
   46         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.