POLK COUNTY, Fla. — The 10th Circuit State Attorney’s Office, along with Polk County Clerk of Courts and the Florida Legal Project, are hosting a seal and expunge legal clinic on April 18.

  • Clinic geared to people with arrests that did not lead to convictions
  • To qualify, case typically must have been dismissed or person sent to diversionary program
  • People only allowed one sealed/expunged arrest record in their lifetime
  • More Polk County stories

The clinic aims at helping people who have been arrested in Polk County, but whose arrest did not result in a conviction.

Those people may be eligible to have a single arrest record sealed or expunged, according to Florida Legal Project founder Nate Hendricks. 

“If you want to get your record expunged, you couldn’t have been adjudicated guilty on any cases,” said Nate Hendricks. “We do these sealed and expungement clinics in partnership with the state attorney’s office and with Stacy Butterfield’s office so it can be a one-stop shop." 

Hendricks said typically the person’s case was dismissed or they attended a diversion program. 

The clinic will help people get finger-printed, fill out the application for a Certificate of Eligibility for Court-Ordered Sealing or Expungement, and obtain the proper signatures if they’re eligible. The application is then has to be sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which verifies if the person is eligible. 

“When it’s sent to FDLE, they do different background checks to make sure there’s no other criminal charges in other counties," Hendricks explained. "I do believe they also look at some of the national databases, because you are only allowed one expungement or sealing in your lifetime."

Hendricks said they hope helping people navigate the legal system will help them avoid going to jail again.

“We don’t want anybody to think that our goal is for people to just get away with crime. The goal is to stop that cycle of recidivism,” Hendricks said. 

The free clinic will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Wilford Smith Resource Center, located at 135 Avenue Y NE, Winter Haven, FL.  Hendricks said they also have funding to help people pay the application fee.