The 2023 Florida Statutes
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Under section 943.0595, Florida Statutes (2023), the Department of Law Enforcement must automatically seal criminal history records that meet specified criteria, such as when "[a] judgment of acquittal was rendered by a judge as to all counts." A recent statutory change, effective July 1, 2023, requires the department to then notify the clerk of court, and "[u]pon such notification, the clerk of the court must automatically keep the related court record in the case giving rise to the department's sealing of the criminal history record confidential and exempt from s[ection] 119.071(1) and s[ection] 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution." Ch. 2023-189, § 1, Laws of Fla. We now amend subdivision (d) (Procedures for Determining Confidentiality of Court Records) of rule 2.420 to list section 943.0595 and a court record in a case giving rise to the sealed criminal history record in the list of statutes and information that the clerk of court must maintain as confidential.
The lower court's order denying the Appellant's Motion for Certificate of Eligibility is affirmed based upon section 943.0595(2)(e).
Since the trial court's ruling, our supreme court has issued its opinion in State v. D.H.W., 21 Fla. L. Weekly 5545 (Fla. 1996), which holds that section 943.0595 does not violate the separation of powers provision of Article II, section 3, of the Florida Constitution. Accordingly, a petition to expunge a criminal history record may not be granted until the conditions precedent in section 943.0585 have been satisfied.
. . . See § 943.0595(2)(e), Fla. Stat. (1997). . . .
. . . D.H.W., 686 So.2d 1381 (Fla.1996), which holds that section 943.0595 does not violate the separation . . .