Tallahassee Juvenile Record Lawyer

Depending on the seriousness of the offense, a juvenile criminal record can haunt you into your adult years.

Tallahassee/Leon County Attorney Ian Nesbeth, helps juveniles and parents of minors look to a brighter future, by proactively working to get juvenile criminal records sealed or expunged. Once the process is complete, he or she can legally say the arrest never happened.

Whether your juvenile arrest record involves underage drinking, marijuana possession, simple assault or any other offense, it is important not to let one mistake haunt you for many years to come. Florida laws provide a remedy for juveniles with a criminal record. In many cases, the law provides for an automatic expungment of juvenile criminal history records after a specified period, which depends on the severity of the offense:

Serious offenses or habitual offender crimes:

Criminal history records are held for five years after the individual turns 21. Therefore, unless action is taken to get your juvenile record sealed, your criminal history records cannot be destroyed until you are 26. Also, you may lose eligibility to expunge your juvenile criminal record if a crime is committed prior to getting your record expunged.

Non-serious offenses:

Criminal history records are retained for five years after the individual turns 19. Therefore, unless action is taken to seal your juvenile criminal record, your criminal history record cannot be destroyed until you are 24. Also, if a crime is committed before your record is expunged or sealed, your juvenile criminal record may be ineligible for sealing or expunging.

For many young adults, their juvenile criminal record goes away by the time they have reached 24 or 26 years old; however, these are important years that can significantly shape the future. Having a criminal record during these years (even for a seemingly minor offense) can reduce opportunities and career growth.

Leon County/Tallahassee Seal/Expunge Attorney Ian Nesbeth may be able to have a Juvenile record sealing done much earlier than the 24^th or 26^th birthday. And, once the process is complete, you can legally say the incident never occurred and it cannot affect college applications, employment applications and much more.