Florida Senate - 2022 CS for SB 342 By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senators Perry and Taddeo 591-01004-22 2022342c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to juvenile diversion program 3 expunction; amending s. 943.0582, F.S.; requiring the 4 Department of Law Enforcement to expunge the 5 nonjudicial arrest record of certain minors who 6 successfully complete a diversion program for 7 specified felony offenses, rather than only for 8 misdemeanor offenses; amending s. 985.126, F.S.; 9 authorizing a minor who successfully completes a 10 diversion program and is granted an expunction for any 11 offense, rather than only for a first-time misdemeanor 12 offense, to lawfully deny or fail to acknowledge 13 certain information; providing an effective date. 14 15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16 17 Section 1.Subsection (1) and paragraph (b) of subsection 18 (3) of section 943.0582, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 19 943.0582Diversion program expunction. 20 (1)Notwithstanding any law dealing generally with the 21 preservation and destruction of public records, the department 22 shall adopt rules to provide for the expunction of a nonjudicial 23 record of the arrest of a minor who has successfully completed a 24 diversion program for a misdemeanor offense. 25 (3)The department shall expunge the nonjudicial arrest 26 record of a minor who has successfully completed a diversion 27 program if that minor: 28 (b)Submits to the department, with the application, an 29 official written statement from the state attorney for the 30 county in which the arrest occurred certifying that the minor he 31 or she has successfully completed that countys diversion 32 program;, that the minors his or her participation in the 33 program was based on an arrest for a misdemeanor offense or for 34 a felony offense other than a forcible felony as defined in s. 35 776.08;, and that the minor he or she has not otherwise been 36 charged by the state attorney with, or found to have committed, 37 any criminal offense or comparable ordinance violation. 38 Section 2.Subsection (5) of section 985.126, Florida 39 Statutes, is amended to read: 40 985.126Diversion programs; data collection; denial of 41 participation or expunged record. 42 (5)A minor who successfully completes a diversion program 43 and who has been granted an expunction under s. 943.0582 for a 44 first-time misdemeanor offense may lawfully deny or fail to 45 acknowledge his or her participation in the program and such an 46 expunction of a nonjudicial arrest record under s. 943.0582, 47 unless the inquiry is made by a criminal justice agency, as 48 defined in s. 943.045, for a purpose described in s. 49 943.0582(2)(b)1. 50 Section 3.This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.