Florida Senate - 2016                              CS for SB 386
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Fiscal Policy; and Senators Detert and Soto
       
       594-02125-16                                           2016386c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to expunction of records of minors;
    3         amending s. 790.23, F.S.; creating an exception for
    4         specified minors who, before attaining 21 years of
    5         age, had a criminal history record expunged; amending
    6         s. 943.0515, F.S.; decreasing the period of time that
    7         a minor’s criminal history record must be retained
    8         before expunction; authorizing specified minors to
    9         apply for expunction of a criminal history record
   10         under certain circumstances; establishing an
   11         application process and requiring that specified
   12         documentation be submitted to the Department of Law
   13         Enforcement; requiring that specified fees be
   14         deposited into the Department of Law Enforcement
   15         Operating Trust Fund; requiring a sworn written
   16         statement from the applicant; providing a criminal
   17         penalty for perjury on such sworn written statement;
   18         amending s. 943.0582, F.S.; deleting a limitation on
   19         the period of time within which a minor must submit an
   20         application for prearrest or postarrest diversion
   21         expunction to the Department of Law Enforcement after
   22         successful completion of the diversion program;
   23         reenacting s. 985.125(3), F.S., relating to prearrest
   24         and postarrest diversion programs, to incorporate the
   25         amendment made to s. 943.0582, F.S., in a reference
   26         thereto; providing an effective date.
   27          
   28  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   29  
   30         Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 790.23, Florida
   31  Statutes, is amended to read:
   32         790.23 Felons and delinquents; possession of firearms,
   33  ammunition, or electric weapons or devices unlawful.—
   34         (2) This section shall not apply to a person:
   35         (a) Convicted of a felony whose civil rights and firearm
   36  authority have been restored.
   37         (b) Whose criminal history record has been expunged
   38  pursuant to s. 943.0515(1)(b).
   39         Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
   40  943.0515, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   41         943.0515 Retention of criminal history records of minors.—
   42         (1)
   43         (b)1. If the minor is not classified as a serious or
   44  habitual juvenile offender or committed to a juvenile
   45  correctional facility or juvenile prison under chapter 985, the
   46  program shall retain the minor’s criminal history record for 2 5
   47  years after the date the minor reaches 19 years of age, at which
   48  time the record shall be expunged unless it meets the criteria
   49  of paragraph (2)(a) or paragraph (2)(b).
   50         2. A minor described in subparagraph 1. may apply to the
   51  department to have his or her criminal history record expunged
   52  before the minor reaches 21 years of age. To be eligible for
   53  expunction under this subparagraph, the minor must be 18 years
   54  of age or older and less than 21 years of age and have not been
   55  charged by the state attorney with or found to have committed
   56  any criminal offense within the 5-year period before the
   57  application date. The only offenses eligible to be expunged
   58  under this subparagraph are those that the minor committed
   59  before the minor reached 18 years of age. A criminal history
   60  record expunged under this subparagraph requires the approval of
   61  the state attorney for each circuit in which an offense
   62  specified in the criminal history record occurred. A minor
   63  seeking to expunge a criminal history record under this
   64  subparagraph shall apply to the department for expunction in the
   65  manner prescribed by rule. An application for expunction under
   66  this subparagraph shall include:
   67         a. A processing fee of $75 to the department for placement
   68  in the Department of Law Enforcement Operating Trust Fund,
   69  unless such fee is waived by the executive director.
   70         b. A full set of fingerprints of the applicant taken by a
   71  law enforcement agency for purposes of identity verification.
   72         c. A sworn, written statement from the minor seeking relief
   73  that he or she is no longer under court supervision applicable
   74  to the disposition of the arrest or alleged criminal activity to
   75  which the application to expunge pertains and that he or she has
   76  not been charged with or found to have committed a criminal
   77  offense, in any jurisdiction of the state or within the United
   78  States, within the 5-year period before the application date.
   79  
   80  A person who knowingly provides false information on the sworn
   81  statement required by this sub-subparagraph commits a
   82  misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s.
   83  775.082 or s. 775.083.
   84         3. A minor who applies, but who is not approved for early
   85  expunction in accordance with subparagraph 2., shall have his or
   86  her criminal history record expunged at age 21 if eligible under
   87  subparagraph 1.
   88         Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 943.0582, Florida
   89  Statutes, is amended to read:
   90         943.0582 Prearrest, postarrest, or teen court diversion
   91  program expunction.—
   92         (3) The department shall expunge the nonjudicial arrest
   93  record of a minor who has successfully completed a prearrest or
   94  postarrest diversion program if that minor:
   95         (a) Submits an application for prearrest or postarrest
   96  diversion expunction, on a form prescribed by the department,
   97  signed by the minor’s parent or legal guardian, or by the minor
   98  if he or she has reached the age of majority at the time of
   99  applying.
  100         (b) Submits the application for prearrest or postarrest
  101  diversion expunction no later than 12 months after completion of
  102  the diversion program.
  103         (b)(c) Submits to the department, with the application, an
  104  official written statement from the state attorney for the
  105  county in which the arrest occurred certifying that he or she
  106  has successfully completed that county’s prearrest or postarrest
  107  diversion program, that his or her participation in the program
  108  was based on an arrest for a nonviolent misdemeanor, and that he
  109  or she has not otherwise been charged by the state attorney
  110  with, or found to have committed, any criminal offense or
  111  comparable ordinance violation.
  112         (c)(d) Participated in a prearrest or postarrest diversion
  113  program that expressly authorizes or permits such expunction to
  114  occur.
  115         (d)(e) Participated in a prearrest or postarrest diversion
  116  program based on an arrest for a nonviolent misdemeanor that
  117  would not qualify as an act of domestic violence as that term is
  118  defined in s. 741.28.
  119         (e)(f) Has never been, before prior to filing the
  120  application for expunction, been charged by the state attorney
  121  with, or been found to have committed, any criminal offense or
  122  comparable ordinance violation.
  123         Section 4. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
  124  made by this act to section 943.0582, Florida Statutes, in a
  125  reference thereto, subsection (3) of section 985.125, Florida
  126  Statutes, is reenacted to read:
  127         985.125 Prearrest or postarrest diversion programs.—
  128         (3) The prearrest or postarrest diversion program may, upon
  129  agreement of the agencies that establish the program, provide
  130  for the expunction of the nonjudicial arrest record of a minor
  131  who successfully completes such a program pursuant to s.
  132  943.0582.
  133         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.