I live in Florida. What can I say LEGALLY that wont bite me later?

Question

I had a charge when I was 14 (i am now 27) for Aggravated Assault which is a felony. However, I completed all court requirements and my case was disposed as adjudication withheld. My juvenile counselor told me that I could check "no" on applications that asks if I have a conviction. I went through my whole life believing this. I now have a BA in criminology and On an application I want to fill out it asks 1). have you ever been convicted of a felony? and 2). Have you ever had the adjudication of guilt withheld that was a felony or a 1st degree misdemeanor. Do I have to check yes to either of these? When an FDLE NCIC check was done on me for my internship job (DCF), it came back clean and I had checked yes to the conviction question because I was too scared to check no, but the NCIC and fingerprint check came back clean which was ran through FDLE. However, when FDLE ran a check for me to get a job they found my juvenile record and disqualified me from employment. What did they see that DCF didn't? On the FDLE app, I checked no for conviction but explained the charge and that it was a juvenile adjudication withheld record. Was my time wasted in college? Do I have to check yes to either of these questions?

Answer 1

d**n I would research that answer, but I have a feeling it'd take me more than 5 minutes at least.

Answer 2

If I made an assumption, I would state that the juvenile counselor did not provide you with complete information.  If your record is sealed, under Florida law, you may deny a conviction on a job application.  However, one exception (there are several) is for criminal justice agencies.  Thus, you must disclose your arrest to criminal justice agencies even if your record is sealed.  While I am not certain, I would also assume that your sealed record is probably accessible by the FDLE, but probably not in the national databases you mentioned.  Otherwise, it would not make sense that you are required to disclose your arrest, but the FDLE cannot check it.  Anyway, you might need to change your career or move to a state which excludes sealed or expunged records from their background checks (California - at least for the bar).

Answer 3

The rules are slightly different from state-to-state so you probably will want to double check this with a Florida attorney.

Generally speaking, a lot of states have a "closed-record" form of probation in which you are not sentenced or convicted of a crime.  However, certain agencies have the right to see the "closed records."  

In most of these states, if you successfully completed the closed-record probation, you do not have to answer yes if asked were you convicted.  However, if you are expressly asked about whether you were ever arrested or placed on probation, you do have to answer yes, especially when dealing with a state agency.