Can a DUI Be Sealed or Expunged in Florida?

A DUI conviction in Florida can never be sealed or expunged. The reason is mechanical: section 316.656 forbids a court from withholding adjudication on a DUI, and sealing under section 943.059 requires that you were never adjudicated guilty, so a DUI plea or verdict closes the door permanently. There are two ways a DUI arrest does come off your record. If the charge was dropped, dismissed, no-filed or you were acquitted, the arrest can be expunged under section 943.0585. If the DUI was reduced to reckless driving with adjudication withheld, which is what the DETER program and many negotiated pleas in Sarasota and Manatee County produce, the record can be sealed. The rest of this page explains who qualifies, what sealing and expunction do, and what stays on your driving record no matter what.

Why a DUI conviction can never be sealed

Florida's sealing statute, section 943.059(1)(b), requires that the person "has never been adjudicated guilty" of a criminal offense, and (1)(c) requires that the person was not adjudicated guilty of any charge from the arrest being sealed. For most misdemeanors a judge can withhold adjudication, which keeps the door open. Section 316.656(1) takes that option away for DUI: no court may suspend, defer or withhold adjudication of guilt or imposition of sentence for a violation of section 316.193. A DUI plea is always a conviction, and a conviction can never be sealed or expunged. That is true for a first offense with a 0.09 and no crash, and it is true 30 years later.

This is the single biggest reason the fight over a first DUI matters. The difference between a DUI conviction and a reckless driving plea is not just the penalties; it is whether the record can ever be cleared. See DUI vs. reckless driving.

Expunction when the DUI was dropped, dismissed or won

If no information was filed, the State nolle prossed the charge, the court dismissed it, or a judge or jury acquitted you, the arrest is eligible for court-ordered expunction under section 943.0585 if you also meet the other requirements:

You have never been adjudicated guilty of any criminal offense in Florida (or adjudicated delinquent for a felony or certain listed misdemeanors), under section 943.0585(1)(d).
You were not adjudicated guilty of any charge arising from the same arrest, under (1)(e).
You are no longer under court supervision for the case, under (1)(f).
You have never had another record sealed or expunged in Florida, under (1)(g). Florida allows one court-ordered sealing or expunction in a lifetime, with a limited exception for additional arrests that directly relate to the same incident.
The record is not on the ineligible list in section 943.0584. DUI and reckless driving are not on that list; it covers offenses such as sexual misconduct, domestic violence, aggravated assault and battery, stalking, burglary of a dwelling, robbery, child abuse and drug trafficking.

Expunction means the arrest record is physically destroyed by the clerk, the arresting agency and the State Attorney, while FDLE keeps one confidential copy available only by court order. You may then lawfully deny the arrest, with the exceptions listed below.

Sealing when the DUI was reduced to reckless driving

Most first DUI cases that end well in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit end with a plea to reckless driving with adjudication withheld, either through the State Attorney's DETER program or a negotiated reduction based on problems with the evidence. Because adjudication was withheld, that record can be sealed under section 943.059, provided you have no prior adjudication of guilt for any crime, you completed probation, you have not used your one-time sealing or expunction, and the offense is not on the section 943.0584 list. Reckless driving is not on it.

Sealing makes the record confidential and removes it from public view. The record still exists and is available to criminal justice agencies, judges and a short list of licensing and employment entities. Under section 943.0585(1)(h), a record that has been sealed for 10 years can then be expunged.

Two timing points matter. Probation must be finished first, and a DETER reckless driving plea carries 12 months of probation, so the earliest sealing comes after that year. And the FDLE certificate of eligibility, which must be obtained before any petition is filed, is valid for 12 months under section 943.059(2)(b). The DETER terms are on the DETER program page, and the paths to a reduction are on can a first DUI be reduced in Sarasota.

Automatic sealing is not the same thing

Since 2019, section 943.0595 requires FDLE to automatically seal its own copy of a criminal history record when no charging document was filed, the charge was dismissed or nolle prossed, or the person was acquitted, as long as the charge was not a forcible felony. Once FDLE notifies the clerk, the clerk makes the court record confidential too. That helps, and because it is automatic rather than court-ordered, it does not use up your one chance at court-ordered sealing or expunction. But automatic sealing does not require other agencies to seal their copies, does not destroy anything, and does not reach private background-check databases that already captured the arrest. For a dropped DUI, a court-ordered expunction is still the thorough remedy.

The driving record is separate

Sealing or expunging the criminal record does nothing to the record the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles keeps on your driver license. Under FLHSMV's own retention schedule, alcohol-related entries stay on a Florida driving record for 75 years, suspensions and revocations stay for 7 to 11 years, and citations with adjudication withheld stay indefinitely. The administrative suspension that began at arrest under section 322.2615 is a driving-record entry, and it remains there even if the criminal DUI charge was later dropped, unless it was invalidated at a formal review hearing. That is one more reason to use the 10-day window to challenge the suspension rather than let it stand.

What employers and licensing boards can still see

After a sealing or expunction you may lawfully deny the arrest on most job applications and rental applications. Sections 943.059(6)(b) and 943.0585(6)(b) list the exceptions, where the record must still be disclosed and can be seen: applying for a job with a criminal justice agency, being a defendant in a later prosecution, applying to The Florida Bar, seeking employment or licensure with the Department of Children and Families, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Health, the Department of Juvenile Justice and similar agencies, working with children, the elderly or disabled adults, working for a school district or private school, applying for an insurance agent license, seeking appointment as a guardian, and, for sealed records, buying a firearm from a licensed dealer or applying for a concealed weapon license. Nurses, teachers and other licensees should read the professional license pages before relying on a sealed record.

Expunction also does not scrub news articles, mugshot websites or data brokers that copied the arrest while it was public. Those have to be handled separately, and the sooner a record is cleared, the less there is to copy.

The process and how long it takes

The sequence is the same for sealing and expunction: obtain certified dispositions from the Clerk of Court in Sarasota or Manatee County, submit the FDLE application with fingerprints and the $75 processing fee (for expunction, the State Attorney must also certify the disposition), wait for the certificate of eligibility, then file a petition and sworn affidavit in the court where the case was heard. The State may object, and the judge has discretion to deny even an eligible petition under section 943.059(4)(e), so the petition should be presented well. FDLE processing has run several months, and the court petition adds more, so a full sealing or expunction from start to finish commonly takes the better part of a year. The general process is on the Sarasota record sealing and expungement page.

Questions people ask

I took a plea to DUI years ago for a first offense. Can it be sealed now?

No. A DUI conviction is permanent in Florida because adjudication cannot be withheld. The only records that can be cleared are a dropped or dismissed DUI (expunction) or a DUI reduced to another charge with adjudication withheld (sealing).

My DUI was dropped. Does it just disappear?

Not fully. FDLE automatically seals its copy under section 943.0595, but the arresting agency, the Clerk and private databases are a different story. A court-ordered expunction under section 943.0585 is what destroys the record.

I finished DETER. When can I seal the reckless driving?

After probation ends and the case is closed, assuming you have no prior adjudications anywhere and have never sealed or expunged a record before. Expect the FDLE application and court petition to take months.

Will a sealed reckless driving show up on a background check?

It should not appear on a standard commercial background check, and you may lawfully deny it, except for the statutory exceptions such as criminal justice employment, Florida Bar admission, certain state agencies and work with children or vulnerable adults.

Does sealing remove the DUI from my driving record?

No. The driving record is kept by FLHSMV under different rules, and alcohol-related entries remain for 75 years. Insurance companies read that record, not the court file.

Can I seal a DUI that was reduced to reckless driving in Bradenton?

Yes, under the same statute. The petition is filed in Manatee County, where the case was heard. See Bradenton DUI lawyer.

Call or text (941) 920-5514, nights and weekends too, or request a free consultation by phone or video with former prosecutor Daniel D. Nawara. For the difference a withhold makes, see withhold of adjudication vs. conviction.