Florida Statutes
Fla. Stat. § 943.0581 (2025)
Administrative expunction for arrests made contrary to law or by mistake.
✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
FL-LEGleg.state.fl.us
JustiaFla. Statutes
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
943.0581 Administrative expunction for arrests made contrary to law or by mistake.—
(1) Notwithstanding any law dealing generally with the preservation and destruction of public records, the department may adopt a rule pursuant to chapter 120 for the administrative expunction of any nonjudicial record of an arrest of a minor or an adult made contrary to law or by mistake.
(2) A law enforcement agency shall apply to the department in the manner prescribed by rule for the administrative expunction of any nonjudicial record of any arrest of a minor or an adult who is subsequently determined by the agency, at its discretion, or by the final order of a court of competent jurisdiction, to have been arrested contrary to law or by mistake.
(3) An adult or, in the case of a minor child, the parent or legal guardian of the minor child, may apply to the department in the manner prescribed by rule for the administrative expunction of any nonjudicial record of an arrest alleged to have been made contrary to law or by mistake, provided that the application is supported by the endorsement of the head of the arresting agency or his or her designee or the state attorney of the judicial circuit in which the arrest occurred or his or her designee.
(4) An application for administrative expunction shall include the date and time of the arrest, the name of the person arrested, the offender-based tracking system (OBTS) number, and the crime or crimes charged. The application shall be on the submitting agency’s letterhead and shall be signed by the head of the submitting agency or his or her designee.
(5) If the person was arrested on a warrant, capias, or pickup order, a request for an administrative expunction may be made by the sheriff of the county in which the warrant, capias, or pickup order was issued or his or her designee or by the state attorney of the judicial circuit in which the warrant, capias, or pickup order was issued or his or her designee.
(6) An application or endorsement under this section is not admissible as evidence in any judicial or administrative proceeding and may not be construed in any way as an admission of liability in connection with an arrest.
History.—s. 2, ch. 92-73; s. 94, ch. 94-209; s. 1, ch. 2006-94; s. 4, ch. 2008-249; s. 34, ch. 2010-117; s. 48, ch. 2019-167.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1998–2021 · leading case: Lewis v. State, 711 So. 2d 174 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998).
Lewis v. State, 711 So. 2d 174 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998). “We affirm in accordance with section 943.0581, Florida Statutes (1997).”
Halmu v. Beck, Jr. (S.D. Fla. 2021). “Accordingly, the present action is not directed against the appropriate defendant to secure relief under Section 943.0581. Moreover, Section 943.0581(2), by its very terms, is not applicable unless and until there is a determination by an agency, at its discretion, or there is…”
William Edward Lewis v. State of Florida (Fla. 4th DCA 2019). “See § 943.0581(3), Fla. Stat. (2018); Fla. Admin.”
— 943.0581(2) — 1 case
Halmu v. Beck, Jr. (S.D. Fla. 2021). “Accordingly, the present action is not directed against the appropriate defendant to secure relief under Section 943.0581. Moreover, Section 943.0581(2), by its very terms, is not applicable unless and until there is a determination by an agency, at its discretion, or there is…”
— 943.0581(3) — 1 case
William Edward Lewis v. State of Florida (Fla. 4th DCA 2019). “See § 943.0581(3), Fla. Stat. (2018); Fla. Admin.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.