Florida No Place for a Child supports expunging the record of rehabilitated children

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Earlier today, the Florida Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 274 and Senate Bill 166, which would expunge the nonjudicial arrest record of children who have successfully completed diversion programs for criminal offenses and provide for confidentiality of related arrest records exemption, respectively. Previously, this option was allowed for children who were charged with a misdemeanor, but Senate Bill 274 expands it to other charges. Senate Bill 166 provides for a public records exemption for nonjudicial arrest records.

This legislation has the support of the Florida No Place for a Child coalition. The legislation must still pass the Florida House of Representatives and be signed by Governor Ron DeSantis. 

The following is a statement from Carrie Boyd, policy counsel for the SPLC Action Fund.

“It serves no purpose to have children go into adulthood with a criminal record. Numerous studies have shown that a child’s brain is still developing throughout the teen years. They can learn, grow, and become rehabilitated. Under this legislation, the only children who can get their record expunged are those who prosecutors have chosen to keep out of the criminal justice system and put into diversion programs. Those children must then successfully complete the program. This is common sense, and we call on the Florida House to pass this legislation and Governor DeSantis to sign it into law. 

For a full list of organizations involved in the No Place for a Child coalition, go to https://www.noplaceforachild.com/about-us.