Immediate Burdens Complicate Daily Life
- Required court hearings and/or detention mean missed school and work days, impacting grades and job security.
- Schools may apply additional sanctions, suspension, expulsion, reassignment to alternative schools – even if the offense was not on school property.
- For drug or alcohol related offenses, license or learner’s permit may be suspended.
Stigma Attaches
- Treated differently by others
- In certain cases (felony charges, more than 3 misdemeanors, certain serious crimes), the youth’s information can be shared publicly through news and social media. This exposure is permanent, even if the youth is acquitted.
Life Gets Harder
- Less likely to graduate high school
- Harder to find a job
- Harder to find housing, arrest may be used to disqualify family from public housing
- More likely to reoffend
- More likely to be arrested again
And Stays Harder into Adulthood
- May be disqualified for certain jobs, like law enforcement, military, etc.
- Harder to get into college
- May be disqualified from scholarships
- Harder to find a job
- Harder to find housing, including public housing
- More likely to be arrested again
- Prior juvenile arrests can lead to harsher penalties for future arrests, even as an adult
And Stays Harder into Adulthood
- May be disqualified for certain jobs, like law enforcement, military, etc.
- Harder to get into college
- May be disqualified from scholarships
- Harder to find a job
- Harder to find housing, including public housing
- More likely to be arrested again
- Prior juvenile arrests can lead to harsher penalties for future arrests, even as an adult
A Word on Sealing/Expunging Arrest Records
- Anyone can request your arrest record.
- You can only seal or expunge your record once.
- Juvenile records are automatically expunged at age 21 or 26, depending on the crime, and only if no forcible felony is committed before the record is expunged. If you are arrested for such a crime, your juvenile record merges with your adult record and cannot be expunged.
- You can apply for early expungement with fee.
- Felony arrest information is passed to the FDLE, which sells it, and the FBI. The FBI does not seal or expunge any records.
- Military applications often require waivers that give them access to more records.
- Records may still be available for criminal justice agencies or the Florida Bar (licenses attorneys), in criminal prosecutions, or if you seek to work with an agency serving children, the disabled, or the elderly, or seeks employment at a seaport.
