It is widely believed that children or minors don´t have the same mental process and judgment that an adult may have. This being said, minors might do things to get them arrested, and not having a clean record may cause some problems in their future.
Having an arrest on a record can directly affect someone´s ability to get a job and find housing, among other things, even if it is a minor who was arrested. However, many convictions can be removed from your record through an expungement.
In Florida, minors can expunge first-time misdemeanors when completing a diversion program. However, Florida´s House passed a bill that would expand a juvenile´s ability to expunge their arrest record beyond a minor´s first offense.
Moreover, this bill would allow a minor who completes a diversion program to deny or omit participation in a diversion program as well as the expunction. There are different kinds of diversion programs, but all of them have the goal to maximize the opportunity for success as well as minimizing the likelihood of recidivism.
So this is good news, whether you were at the wrong place at the wrong time, or running with the wrong crowd more than once, or some other situation that got you arrested, you´ll have the ability to expunge your record (if eligible) and not worry about it following you around for the rest of your life.
If you or a loved one are looking to expunge your record, it might be beneficial to contact an experienced attorney to help you through the process. Rusell Spatz has decades of experience, so give him a call at 305-442-0200 to see how he can assist you.