Florida Senate - 2025 SB 1026 By Senator Davis 5-00577-25 20251026__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to expunction of qualifying marijuana 3 offenses; creating s. 943.0579, F.S.; defining the 4 term “qualifying marijuana offense”; requiring the 5 Department of Law Enforcement to issue certificates of 6 eligibility for expunction of qualifying marijuana 7 offenses; providing requirements for the department; 8 specifying requirements for a petition for expunction; 9 providing criminal penalties for providing false 10 information on a certain sworn statement; specifying 11 the process for a petition to expunge qualifying 12 marijuana offenses; requiring the department to adopt 13 rules; providing an effective date. 14 15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16 17 Section 1. Section 943.0579, Florida Statutes, is created 18 to read: 19 943.0579 Expunction of a qualifying marijuana offense.— 20 (1) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term 21 “qualifying marijuana offense” means one or more violations of 22 any of the following offenses that an individual committed 23 before July 1, 2025: 24 (a) Section 893.13, involving the possession of 2 ounces or 25 less of cannabis as defined in s. 893.02. 26 (b) Section 893.147, involving the possession of drug 27 paraphernalia that meets the definition of marijuana delivery 28 device in s. 381.986(1). 29 (2) CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY.—Notwithstanding the 30 eligibility requirements of s. 943.0585(1) and (2), the 31 department shall issue a certificate of eligibility for 32 expunction under this section to a person who is the subject of 33 a criminal history record resulting from the arrest, filing of 34 charges, or conviction for a qualifying marijuana offense. In 35 accepting, processing, and approving a petition for a 36 certificate of eligibility for expunction under this section, 37 the department: 38 (a) May not require a fee from the petitioner. 39 (b) Shall create and administer a system: 40 1. That allows a petitioner to electronically transmit 41 their petition and any attachment, including the petitioner’s 42 fingerprints and a copy of the disposition of the arrest or 43 charge; and 44 2. That electronically transmits a certificate of 45 eligibility for expunction to the petitioner. 46 (3) PETITION.— 47 (a) Each petition to expunge a criminal history record 48 pursuant to this section must be accompanied by the petitioner’s 49 sworn statement attesting that the petitioner is eligible for 50 such an expunction to the best of his or her knowledge or 51 belief. A person who knowingly provides false information on 52 such sworn statement to the court commits a felony of the third 53 degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 54 775.084. 55 (b) This section does not confer any right to the 56 expunction of a criminal history record, and any request for 57 expunction of a criminal history record may be denied at the 58 discretion of the court. 59 (4) PROCESSING OF A PETITION OR AN ORDER.— 60 (a) In judicial proceedings under this section, a copy of 61 the completed petition to expunge must be served upon the 62 appropriate state attorney or the statewide prosecutor and upon 63 the arresting agency; however, it is not necessary to make any 64 agency other than the state a party. The appropriate state 65 attorney or the statewide prosecutor and the arresting agency 66 may respond to the court regarding the completed petition to 67 expunge. 68 (b) The court shall grant relief to a petitioner who meets 69 the requirements of this section, and, upon the granting of 70 relief, the clerk of the court shall certify copies of the order 71 to the appropriate state attorney or the statewide prosecutor 72 and the arresting agency. The arresting agency shall forward the 73 order to any other agency to which the arresting agency 74 disseminated the criminal history record and to which the order 75 pertains. The department shall forward the order to expunge to 76 the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The clerk of the court 77 shall certify a copy of the order to any other agency for which 78 the records of the court reflect has received the criminal 79 history record. 80 (c) The department or any other criminal justice agency is 81 not required to act on an order to expunge entered by a court 82 when such order does not comply with the requirements of this 83 section. Upon receipt of such an order, the department must 84 notify the issuing court, the appropriate state attorney or 85 statewide prosecutor, the petitioner or the petitioner’s 86 attorney, and the arresting agency of the reason for 87 noncompliance. The appropriate state attorney or statewide 88 prosecutor shall take action within 60 days after receipt of 89 such an order to correct the record and petition the court to 90 void the order. No cause of action, including contempt of court, 91 shall arise against any criminal justice agency for failure to 92 comply with an order to expunge when the petitioner for such 93 order failed to obtain the certificate of eligibility as 94 required by this section or when such order does not otherwise 95 comply with the requirements of this section. 96 (5) RULEMAKING.—The department shall adopt rules to 97 implement this section. 98 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.