Can a juvenile record be expunged in Florida?
Two paths.
Automatic expunction by age, described above, covers most juvenile records without any application.
Juvenile diversion expunction is a separate petition-based process for a person who successfully completed a diversion program for a qualifying offense. It allows expunction earlier than the automatic age-based destruction, and it can matter for someone applying to college, the military, or a job before turning 21.
The process runs through a certificate of eligibility from FDLE followed by a petition, similar to adult expunction.
What's excluded: cases that went to adult court, certain enumerated offenses, and cases resulting in specified dispositions.
Because the automatic path exists, the question worth asking is whether waiting until 21 creates a practical problem in the meantime. For many families it doesn't. For a seventeen-year-old applying to a service academy, it does.
If something is coming up before 21 — enlistment, licensure, college — ask about the earlier path. ---
Talk to an Attorney — Free
An answer on a page isn't the same as advice about your case. Talk to an attorney who handles these matters on the Treasure Coast — free and confidential.