FDLE Certificate of Eligibility — Step-by-Step Guide

The FDLE Certificate of Eligibility is the required first step in the standard court-ordered process for sealing under Section 943.059 and expungement under Section 943.0585, Florida Statutes. Before a circuit court petition can be filed, FDLE must independently review your statewide criminal history and issue a certificate confirming you are eligible. Without it, the court petition cannot proceed. Getting the FDLE application right the first time matters: the $75 fee is non-refundable, a rejected application delays the entire process, and a deficient submission can be misread as a denial. The steps below cover the required documents, the fee, and the FDLE review timeline.

Legally reviewed by Tonmiel Rodriguez, Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer — last reviewed June 2026.

What Is the FDLE Certificate of Eligibility and Why Is It Required?

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement maintains the state’s criminal history database — a centralized repository of arrests, charges, and dispositions submitted by law enforcement agencies across all 67 Florida counties. When you apply for court-ordered sealing or expungement, the circuit court requires FDLE to independently verify your eligibility before the petition is considered. This gatekeeping function prevents petitions from being filed by people who do not meet the statutory criteria and preserves judicial resources for qualifying cases.

FDLE’s Certificate of Eligibility is that independent verification — it is FDLE’s official statement that your criminal history, as it exists in the statewide database, does not contain any entry that disqualifies you under the applicable statute. The certificate does not guarantee the court will grant the petition — the State Attorney can still object, and the judge has discretion — but without the certificate, the court process cannot begin at all.

What Are the Full Requirements for the FDLE Certificate of Eligibility Application?

A complete FDLE Certificate of Eligibility application must include all four of the following components submitted together:

• Completed FDLE application form: The official application form available on FDLE’s website under the Expunge/Seal section. Must be completed fully and accurately. Errors or omissions result in return of the application. Common errors include incorrect case numbers, incorrect statute sections, and missing fields. Review the completed form carefully before submitting.
• Certified copy of the final case disposition: A certified copy of the court’s final disposition document from the clerk of court showing: the case number, the defendant’s full name, the Florida statute section and specific charge, and the final outcome — withhold of adjudication for a sealing application, or dismissal/nolle prosse/no-information for an expungement application. A printout from the court’s online case management system is not a certified copy. You must obtain the document directly from the clerk’s office with the clerk’s certification stamp and signature.
• Completed fingerprint card: A fingerprint card completed by a law enforcement agency (sheriff’s office, police department) or a certified private fingerprint vendor. Electronic Live Scan fingerprinting is available at many locations and produces cleaner, more readable prints than traditional ink-roll cards. FDLE maintains a list of approved fingerprint vendors on its website. Smudged or incomplete fingerprints result in rejection of the application.
• $75 non-refundable filing fee: Payable by money order or certified check payable to FDLE, or as otherwise specified in FDLE’s current submission instructions. Personal checks are not accepted. The fee is non-refundable regardless of the outcome — a denial does not trigger a refund.

How Do You Obtain the Certified Case Disposition Document?

The certified disposition document is obtained from the clerk of court in the county where the criminal case was filed. In the 10th Judicial Circuit, this means contacting the Polk County Clerk of Courts, the Highlands County Clerk of Courts, or the Hardee County Clerk of Courts depending on the county where your case was handled. Call the clerk’s civil/criminal records division and request a certified copy of the final disposition for your specific case. You will need: the case number; your full legal name as it appears on the case; and the approximate year of the case if you do not have the case number.

There is typically a small fee for certified copies — usually $1 to $3 per page plus a certification fee. Cases that went through PTI require particular attention: confirm the final written disposition shows a court-entered dismissal, not just a notation of PTI completion. If the disposition document is ambiguous about the final outcome, have an attorney review it before submitting the FDLE application.

Who Does NOT Need an FDLE Certificate of Eligibility?

Not all expungement pathways require an FDLE Certificate of Eligibility. The following pathways do not require the certificate:

• Self-defense expungement (Section 943.0578): Petition filed directly in circuit court — no FDLE certificate required.
• Human trafficking expungement (Section 943.0583): Petition filed directly in circuit court — no FDLE certificate required.
• Administrative expungement (Section 943.0581): Handled by the arresting agency — no FDLE certificate or court petition required.
• Juvenile diversion expungement (Section 943.0582): Administrative FDLE process — no separate Certificate of Eligibility required.
• Juvenile record expungement (Section 943.0515): Age-based automatic process or FDLE petition — no separate Certificate of Eligibility required.
• Automatic sealing (Section 943.0595): FDLE-initiated — no application required.

The Certificate of Eligibility is required only for the two standard court-ordered pathways: sealing under Section 943.059 and expungement under Section 943.0585. Understanding which pathway applies to your situation determines whether you need the FDLE certificate step at all.

What Happens After FDLE Receives Your Application?

After FDLE receives a complete application with all required documents and the $75 fee, the agency conducts a statewide criminal history review. FDLE checks for: any prior adjudications of guilt that would disqualify you; any prior sealing or expungement that would trigger the one-time limit; any offense on the ineligible list under Section 943.059(1)(c) or Section 943.0585(1)(c); and any discrepancies in the application compared to the criminal history records. This review typically takes six to eight weeks. If the application is incomplete, FDLE returns it with a deficiency notice and the timeline restarts from receipt of the corrected application.

What Happens If FDLE Denies the Certificate of Eligibility?

If FDLE denies the Certificate of Eligibility, it issues a written denial notice explaining the grounds. You have the right to request an administrative hearing to challenge the denial. Common denial grounds and what can be done about them:

• Prior conviction discovered: If FDLE’s database shows a prior conviction from another state or a record that the applicant was unaware of, an attorney can help investigate whether the record is accurate or whether it can be contested.
• Prior sealing or expungement: If FDLE’s records show a prior sealing or expungement was granted, the one-time limit has been used. The only recourse may be one of the specialized pathways without a one-time limit.
• Ineligible offense: If the offense type is on the disqualified list, no alternative under the standard pathway exists. Other specialized statutes may offer a different route.
• Record discrepancy: Sometimes a denial results from a database error or a mismatch between the application and FDLE’s records. This can often be corrected through an administrative challenge with proper documentation.

How Long Does the Full Sealing or Expungement Process Take After Getting the Certificate?

Once the Certificate of Eligibility is in hand, the court petition phase typically takes an additional two to four months, depending on court backlog. Filing the petition, serving the State Attorney (who has a response period), scheduling a hearing if required, and receiving the court’s order adds significant time. After the order is entered, certified copies must be distributed to all agencies — FDLE, the arresting agency, the clerk of court — and each processes the directive on its own timeline. Total elapsed time from initial FDLE application submission through full agency compliance in a typical non-contested sealing or expungement case in the 10th Judicial Circuit: approximately five to eight months.

Common Mistakes That Delay the FDLE Certificate of Eligibility Application

After handling many sealing and expungement cases throughout the 10th Judicial Circuit, I have seen the same application errors delay the process repeatedly. Here are the most common problems and how to avoid them:

• Using a printout instead of a certified copy: The most frequent error. FDLE requires a certified copy of the disposition — not a printout from the court’s public case management website. A certified copy has the clerk’s seal and signature. Always obtain the document directly from the clerk’s office.
• Submitting a fingerprint card with smudged or incomplete prints: Poor quality fingerprints result in immediate rejection. Use Live Scan electronic fingerprinting when available — it produces cleaner results than ink-roll cards and reduces rejection rates significantly.
• Wrong statute section on the application: The application asks for the Florida statute section of the charge. Using the wrong section — particularly common when a charge was reduced or amended during the case — can cause a mismatch with FDLE’s records. Verify the exact statute section from the certified disposition document.
• Using a personal check for the filing fee: FDLE does not accept personal checks. Use a money order or certified check. A returned personal check causes a significant delay and may result in the application being rejected entirely.
• Incorrect or incomplete case information: If you have been arrested more than once, make sure the application identifies the correct case — the specific case number for the charge you seek to seal or expunge. Mixing up cases is more common than people expect, particularly if the arrests occurred close in time or in the same county.

How to Verify Your FDLE Criminal History Before Applying

Before submitting the Certificate of Eligibility application, I recommend requesting a copy of your Florida criminal history from FDLE. This is a proactive step that allows you to see exactly what FDLE has in its database before it conducts its own review. Specifically: confirm that the case disposition in FDLE’s database matches the certified disposition document you obtained from the clerk; verify that no prior sealing or expungement appears in the database that would trigger the one-time limit; confirm there are no additional convictions in the database that you were unaware of; and identify any records from other Florida counties that might affect eligibility.

Getting ahead of potential problems before submitting the application — rather than discovering them when FDLE issues a denial — saves significant time and preserves the $75 application fee. FDLE makes your criminal history available to you through a formal request process; an attorney can also pull a comprehensive report as part of the eligibility review.

Frequently Asked Questions — FDLE Certificate of Eligibility

For help preparing and submitting the FDLE Certificate of Eligibility application or evaluating eligibility before paying the filing fee, contact Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer Tonmiel Rodriguez. Serving Polk, Highlands, and Hardee Counties. Call (863) 774-4556. Reach Us 24/7. Hablamos Español.

• Florida Record Sealing and Expungement Overview
• Court-Ordered Sealing Under Section 943.059
• Court-Ordered Expungement Under Section 943.0585
• Sealing vs. Expungement Key Differences