What Does HB 66 (Victoria’s Law) Do for Expungement?

Florida House Bill 66, known as Victoria’s Law, has nothing to do with expungement. It is a public health measure that designates June 6 of each year as “Revive Awareness Day” to promote opioid overdose awareness.¹ If you landed here looking for the 2024 bill that changed Florida’s expungement rules, you want HB 97, which amended the state’s expungement statute to let people acquitted at trial clear their arrest records for the first time.² The two bills are regularly confused online. They are not related.

What HB 66 Actually Does

HB 66 designates June 6 as Revive Awareness Day and authorizes the Governor to issue an annual proclamation on that date. It encourages the Florida Department of Health to hold events raising awareness about opioid overdose and the availability and safe use of opioid antagonists like naloxone.¹ The law creates no new criminal penalties, does not affect anyone’s arrest or conviction record, and has no connection to expungement eligibility.

The Bill That Actually Changed Expungement: HB 97

HB 97 amended Florida Statute 943.0585 to add two new grounds for expungement eligibility: a judgment of acquittal rendered by a judge, and a verdict of not guilty rendered by a judge or jury.³ Before this change, expungement was only available when charges were dismissed or dropped by the prosecutor. Someone who went through a full trial and won had no path to clear their record. The Senate companion was SB 54, with identical language.⁴ Florida now treats an acquittal the same as a dismissal for purposes of record clearance eligibility.

Who Qualifies for Expungement After an Acquittal

A not guilty verdict alone does not guarantee expungement. The applicant must satisfy every eligibility requirement in Section 943.0585, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement screens each application before issuing a Certificate of Eligibility.

No prior sealing or expungement in Florida under any current or former statute, with a narrow exception when a previously sealed record has been sealed for at least 10 years and is otherwise eligible.³
No adjudication of guilt for any criminal offense in Florida as an adult, and no adjudication of delinquency for any felony or certain enumerated misdemeanors as a juvenile.³
No ongoing court supervision tied to the arrest or charges being expunged.³
No conviction for any offense on the ineligible list in Section 943.0584.

The prior-conviction rule trips up more applicants than any other requirement. Even a single prior guilty adjudication for an unrelated misdemeanor can disqualify someone, because expungement is designed as a one-time remedy for people without an established criminal record.

Offenses Ineligible for Expungement

Florida Statute 943.0584 lists dozens of offenses whose conviction records can never be expunged or sealed. The list includes murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, stalking, kidnapping, human trafficking, arson, robbery, carjacking, burglary of a dwelling, all sexual offenses under Chapter 794, child abuse, elder abuse, drug trafficking, drug manufacturing, terrorism, and communications fraud.⁵

Read closely, that bar runs to conviction records. An acquittal is not a conviction. The interplay between an acquittal on a serious charge and the ineligible-offense list may not operate the way most people assume, and FDLE’s administrative reading can differ from a plain reading of the statute. Anyone acquitted of an offense on this list should consult an attorney before applying.

How to Apply

Start with the Certificate of Eligibility from FDLE. The courts will not act on a petition without it.⁶

FDLE offers an online portal where applicants select “Expunge” as the request type and enter their information electronically.⁷ A paper form can be downloaded and mailed to Florida Department of Law Enforcement, P.O. Box 1489, Tallahassee, Florida 32302-1489, Attention: Expunge Section.⁸

The application requires the applicant’s full legal name, date of birth, race, sex, Social Security number, mailing and permanent addresses, the arresting agency, date of arrest, and the specific charges. The original arrest report makes agency details and case numbers easier to fill in accurately. The completed application must be signed in the presence of a notary public or a deputy clerk of court.⁹

A nonrefundable $75 fee must accompany the application, payable to FDLE by money order, cashier’s check, or personal check. FDLE does not accept cash, gift cards, or temporary personal checks.⁹ Processing typically takes about 12 weeks from the date FDLE receives a complete packet.⁶

Then File the Court Petition

The Certificate of Eligibility is not the expungement itself. Once FDLE issues the certificate, the applicant must file a petition in the circuit court where the original case was handled. The petition asks the judge to issue an order directing all agencies that hold the record to destroy it. Nothing is expunged until the court signs that order and FDLE receives a certified copy.⁶

Court filing fees vary by county and generally run $40 to $60. Attorney fees for preparing and filing the petition typically run between $750 and $5,000, depending on complexity. Self-filing saves money but errors in the paperwork can delay the process by months.

When You Still Have to Disclose

Expungement in Florida is not absolute. In most situations — private employment, rentals, general background inquiries — you can lawfully deny the arrest after expungement. Florida law carves out specific situations where the record must still be disclosed.¹⁰ You must disclose if you are:

Applying for employment with a criminal justice agency
A defendant in a new criminal prosecution
Seeking admission to the Florida Bar
Applying for employment or licensure with state agencies that serve children, the elderly, or people with disabilities, including the Department of Children and Families, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Health, and the Department of Juvenile Justice
Seeking employment or licensure with the Department of Education, any school district, charter school, private school, or entity that licenses child care facilities
Applying for a concealed weapon or concealed firearm license through the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Purchasing a firearm from a licensed dealer and undergoing a background check
Seeking appointment as a legal guardian
Seeking licensure through the Division of Insurance Agent and Agency Services

When agencies on this list run a check, they receive basic demographic information and a note that a criminal history record was expunged, but not the arrest details, charges, or outcome.¹⁰ The Florida Bar is the exception and receives full details.

Private Background Checks

A Florida expungement order binds government agencies. Private background check companies are a separate problem. These companies pull data from court records, law enforcement databases, and public indexes, and an arrest can linger in a commercial database long after a court orders expungement.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires consumer reporting agencies to use reasonable procedures to ensure maximum possible accuracy. A reporting agency that continues to show an expunged record may be failing that standard, and you have the right to dispute the entry and force an investigation. After the court signs the order, pull your own background check from the major consumer reporting agencies and dispute what you find. Catching errors early is cheaper than losing a job offer to one.

FBI Records

Florida’s order reaches state-level databases directly. The FBI’s national system operates independently, and the FBI cannot remove a record without a request from the state agency that contributed it. FDLE should transmit the update to the FBI after processing the court order. If a state-expunged record still turns up in a federal background check later, you can challenge it directly with the FBI.

If You Are a Non-Citizen

Federal immigration authorities do not recognize state expungement orders. Anyone applying for a green card, citizenship, or relief from removal must account for every arrest, even one that ended in acquittal and was later expunged. The Department of Homeland Security and immigration judges routinely require a certified copy of the case disposition as proof of outcome.

Expungement destroys that disposition record. Before filing, obtain and safeguard several certified copies of the court disposition. An acquittal itself does not create immigration consequences, since criminal inadmissibility under federal law turns on convictions rather than arrests.¹¹ But losing the paper proof of the acquittal can create a problem no amount of explanation will fix quickly.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Senate Bill 66 – Revive Awareness Day
2
Florida House of Representatives. HB 97 (2024) – Expunction of Criminal History Records
3
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 943.0585 – Court-Ordered Expunction of Criminal History Records
4
LegiScan. Bill Text FL S0054 2024 Regular Session
5
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 943.0584 – Offenses Ineligible for Expunction or Sealing
6
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Seal and Expunge Process
7
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Seal and Expunge Application
8
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Contact Seal and Expunge
9
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Applying for a Certificate of Eligibility for Court-Ordered Sealing or Expungement
10
Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Entities Entitled to Access Sealed and Expunged Records
11
Canada.ca. Overcome Criminal Convictions