Felony

Overview

A felony is a serious crime, such as murder, robbery, sexual assault or grand theft. A felony conviction could result in a state prison sentence, loss of certain civil rights and possible exclusion from certain jobs.

Criminal cases can be filed in both the Circuit and County Criminal divisions. The Circuit Criminal division maintains case records for all felony cases. The County Criminal division maintains case records for all Misdemeanor, Traffic Criminal, Municipal Ordinance, and County Ordinance cases.

Court Hearing

The Clerk's Office is unable to change any court date already set on a Felony case. If there is a problem with your upcoming court date, either you or your attorney, should contact the office of the Judge assigned to your case.

Failure to appear for an upcoming court date has serious consequences. A Judge may issue a warrant for your arrest; or you may forfeit any bond money or collateral that you have posted; or if re-arrested, you may be held in jail without bond.

If you have bonded out of jail, or have been released by a Judge, you will be notified by mail of any upcoming court date to the most recent address on file in the Clerk's Case Management System. Therefore, it is your responsibility, to keep the Clerk's Office informed of any address change by coming in-person, or submitting your change of address to the address listed under the Contact Information section on this page.

A Change of Address form is also available for purchase from the Form Downloads button on this page.

Restitution

If you are on Probation or Community Control, check with your Probation or Community Control Officer for payment instructions.

If you are not on Probation or Community Control, you must have a Judge’s order stating that the Clerk’s office is to collect the money. The order must have the victim’s name and address and the total amount due.

For Felony cases, submit, or bring in-person, cash (in-person only), money orders, personal, or cashier’s checks to the address listed under the Contact Information section on this page. Credit cards are not accepted.

If neither of the above applies to you, check with the agency specified in your Restitution Order.

Sealing and Expungement

There are very strict criteria for sealing or expunging court records. If you have been charged, but not convicted of a misdemeanor or felony offense, because adjudication was withheld, or the state declined to prosecute, and you have not had any other court record sealed or expunged in the state, you may be eligible. By Florida law, there are specific charges that cannot be sealed or expunged, regardless of whether an adjudication was withheld.

Pronounced differences exist between a sealed record and a record that has been expunged. A sealed record could be opened for inspection by you, your attorney, a criminal justice agency and, in specific situations, a prospective employer. An expunged record would no longer exist, since the file and any references to it are destroyed.

The Clerk's office has a packet, available at a charge of $0.60 that provides you with detailed instructions on the regulations governing the sealing and expungement of court files. This packet is also available for download from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement website, www.fdle.state.fl.us.

There are fees, which will be charged, for processing requests for sealing or expungement. The initial fee charged by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is $75.00. There are additional fees charged by the local law enforcement agency, and Clerk of the Courts Office, as well.

After completing the requirements contained in the packet, you will need to prepare paperwork that must be submitted to have the record sealed or expunged. This paperwork is not supplied in the Clerk's packet and must be prepared by you, in accordance with state statute. If you prefer, you may contact an attorney to provide this service.

If the judge approves the motion, your record will be sealed or expunged. The Clerk's office will then provide certified copies of the order to those agencies that have a record of your arrest, so they may seal or expunge their records, as well. However, you are responsible for payment of the cost of the copies and certification, in addition to a $42.00 statutory processing fee.

Forms and Self Help

The Clerk’s Office is unable to provide legal advice or assistance.

To assist you, below you will find forms and legal resources. For further assistance, please visit the Self Help Equal Access Center - Law Library, where Law Librarians are available to assist you in locating forms and legal resources.

Frequently Asked Questions

Glossary of Terms

The following terms are referenced from Black's Law Dictionary and are being provided to assist with general understanding of court Terminology. Terms that have **by them are an in-house definition but are not a legal definition. Some terms may indicate a Florida Statute reference or another reference that can be researched Online on those sites.