Expungement and Sealing Legal Fees
Our legal fees are the cost to us that occurs when we provide the expungement or sealing service to our clients. We try to keep all our costs to a minimum to provide the best service at the lowest price. What we try to do is provide a service that, except for some initial paperwork, is completely done by our office. This gives our clients the freedom to go on with their lives knowing that their arrest record is being sealed or expunged properly.
Expunction Legal Fees
Before we ask you for a single dime of your money we want to make sure you qualify to have your record sealed or expunged. By "qualifying" we mean that we want to make sure the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will issue you a Certificate of Eligibility. This is a short process that can usually be done over the phone.
Once we determine that you qualify to have your arrest record sealed or expunged we bifurcate our fee into two payments. The first payment is due immediately. This covers the process of obtaining a certificate of eligibility. This can take up to four months to accomplish.
Once we have your certificate of eligibility we can then proceed to petition the court. This is when the final payment of the legal fees is due. The time frame to getting this done is dependent on the court, the judge, and the prosecutor. This usually takes about 2 months.
FDLE Application Fee
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement requires a $75 processing fee. This is due at the beginning of the process to get your certificate of eligibility. This must be in the form of a money order made out to FDLE for $75.
Private Database Company Clearinghouse Fee (optional)
A criminal record is a public record until it is either sealed or expunged. While your criminal arrest record has been "on the books," private database companies (background checking companies) have been collecting this information and selling it to anyone that asks. These companies (and they are numerous) do not receive an order from the court and are under no obligation to remove your data except for the threat of a lawsuit. They would rather just be informed and remove it voluntarily but there has always been too many companies to deal with efficiently. They now provide a one time service to clear all these records. Their fee is $250 and, again, if you want this done we do it for you.
To Speak to Eric J Dirga, a Florida Criminal Defense Attorney
I represent people trying to expunge misdemeanors and felonies. I have been doing this since 1998 with statewide representation. Main areas of practice are in Orlando, Kissimmee, Sanford and surrounding Florida counties. Contact us to set up a time for a consultation either over the phone or in person.
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