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Florida Expungement...judge not signing order to expunge

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irish5454

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida (Broward County)

I have a 20+ year old arrest where I plead no contest to a second degree misdemeanor which is the lowest possible level of misdemeanor in Florida. The record was also sealed for over 10 years.

I received a Certificate of Eligibility from FDLE and the State Attorney's office has let the judge know that they do not object. The paperwork has been sitting with the judge for 5 months.

I called the Judge's assistant who mysteriously states that the Judge has it but signing the order is at his discretion. She also advised that she couldn't tell me any more before I could even ask her about it. She seemed very defensive.

Can the judge just sit on this ad infinitum?

Thanks.
 
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quincy

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida (Broward County)

I have a 20+ year old arrest where I plead guilty to a second degree misdemeanor which is the lowest possible level of misdemeanor in Florida. The record was also sealed for over 10 years.

I received a Certificate of Eligibility from FDLE and the State Attorney's office has let the judge know that they do not object. The paperwork has been sitting with the judge for 5 months.

I called the Judge's assistant who mysteriously states that the Judge has it but signing the order is at his discretion. She also advised that she couldn't tell me any more before I could even ask her about it. She seemed very defensive.

Can the judge just sit on this ad infinitum?

Thanks.
Five months is not unusual. Neither would be six, seven, eight, nine or ten months or more. :)

Waiting is hard but you can do little to speed the process. Just keep calling every other week or so to see if there is any activity on your expungement.
 

irish5454

Junior Member
Five months is not unusual. Neither would be six, seven, eight, nine or ten months or more. :)

Waiting is hard but you can do little to speed the process. Just keep calling every other week or so to see if there is any activity on your expungement.
Thanks. Any ideas on dealing with a defensive assistant? Everyone at FDLE and the SAO was so friendly. As a matter of fact, the SAO has a workshop that explained the whole process to me. Unfortunately, they advise that they don't know how to proceed if the judge is sitting on it. It would have been nice if FDLE and the SAO was snooty with me in the beginning and the assistant was nice to me at the end. :D I'd expect a more reasonable response from the assistant e.g. he hasn't set a hearing date for it yet as opposed to her vague yet seemingly targeted response of "I can't tell you why" and citing the judges discretionary powers.

I just checked an attorney's website and at this step of the process they express the following:

"Once the above documents have been provided to the Judge it normally takes about 2-6 weeks to receive the signed Order Expunging Criminal Record back. The interested parties listed on the order will also receive a copy, once signed by the Judge."

My situation just doesn't seem right.
 
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quincy

Senior Member
Thanks. Any ideas on dealing with a defensive assistant? Everyone at FDLE and the SAO was so friendly. As a matter of fact, the SAO has a workshop that explained the whole process to me. Unfortunately, they advise that they don't know how to proceed if the judge is sitting on it. It would have been nice if FDLE and the SAO was snooty with me in the beginning and the assistant was nice to me at the end. :D I'd expect a more reasonable response from the assistant e.g. he hasn't set a hearing date for it yet as opposed to her vague yet seemingly targeted response of "I can't tell you why" and citing the judges discretionary powers.

I just checked an attorney's website and at this step of the process they express the following:

"Once the above documents have been provided to the Judge it normally takes about 2-6 weeks to receive the signed Order Expunging Criminal Record back. The interested parties listed on the order will also receive a copy, once signed by the Judge."

This just doesn't seem right.
There is nothing you can do about an unfriendly assistant - except perhaps be overly nice when speaking with him/her. That will either improve the assistant's day or make the person feel bad for being so unfriendly.

There is no "normal" time. The judge will take whatever time he needs or wants.

Sorry. It is what it is.

Hillsborough County is not Broward County so I wouldn't compare them if I were you.
 
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irish5454

Junior Member
There is nothing you can do about an unfriendly assistant - except perhaps be overly nice when speaking with him/her. That will either improve the assistant's day or make the person feel bad for being so unfriendly.

There is no "normal" time. The judge will take whatever time he needs or wants.

Sorry. It is what it is.

Hillsborough County is not Broward County so I wouldn't compare them if I were you.
Thank you for your thoughts on this. I'll do my best to be overly nice and see how it goes. True on the differences between counties. That area of Florida is pretty liberal with publications so I grabbed what I could find.

Thanks again for your time!
 

quincy

Senior Member
Thank you for your thoughts on this. I'll do my best to be overly nice and see how it goes. True on the differences between counties. That area of Florida is pretty liberal with publications so I grabbed what I could find.

Thanks again for your time!
You're welcome, irish5454. Thanks for the thanks. :)

I hope your judge does not take too much longer but, however much longer it takes, it is bound to be longer than you'd like. Good luck.
 

latigo

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida (Broward County)

I have a 20+ year old arrest where I plead no contest to a second degree misdemeanor which is the lowest possible level of misdemeanor in Florida. The record was also sealed for over 10 years.

I received a Certificate of Eligibility from FDLE and the State Attorney's office has let the judge know that they do not object. The paperwork has been sitting with the judge for 5 months.

I called the Judge's assistant who mysteriously states that the Judge has it but signing the order is at his discretion. She also advised that she couldn't tell me any more before I could even ask her about it. She seemed very defensive.

Can the judge just sit on this ad infinitum?

Thanks.
Unfortunately for you the judge cannot only sit on it indefinitely, he or she can decline to sign your proposed order!

The clue is in the operative adverb in the enabling statute which isn't "shall", but "'may' order a criminal justice agency to expunge the criminal history, etc." In other words, as you were told it is a matter of judicial discretion in spite of having received a certificate of eligibility.

But I suspect it is in the "mulling over" stage and not yet a lost cause. No news might be could news. And as Q suggests be patient. You've waited 20 some years.

Sometimes it can be very frustrating, but there is no tactful way to prod a judge that I know of. But most definitely I would never direct inquiries to a judge's clerk, assistant, secretary or any other court employee! The defensive attitude you describe comes as no surprise.

And then there is the David Letterman syndrome wherein he has announced to his family that the more they complain about his hideous Saint Nick's beard, the longer it remains!
 

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