What is the difference between sealing and expunging?

Sealing makes the record confidential and exempt from public disclosure. It still exists, and specified agencies can still access it — including for certain licensing, employment with criminal justice agencies, and firearms purchases.

Expunction goes further. The record is physically destroyed by the agencies holding it, and FDLE retains only a confidential notation that a record was expunged, accessible by court order.

Which is available depends on how the case ended. Where adjudication was withheld, sealing is generally the option. Where charges were dismissed or never filed, expunction may be available.

The path between them. A record that was ineligible for expunction because adjudication was withheld can become eligible after it has been sealed for ten years. That means a withhold isn't a permanent ceiling — it's a ten-year waiting period.

Both are subject to the once-in-a-lifetime limitation, and both require a certificate of eligibility from FDLE followed by a court petition.