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Florida Driving Record Types Explained

Three types of records are available from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV): a 3-year record, a 7-year record, and a complete record. They all come from the same state driver history file, but each one shows a different amount of history.

3-year record

The shortest record. It shows guilty traffic results from the past three years, based on the date the court decided the case, plus crashes tied to those tickets, all open license actions, and license actions cleared within the past three years.

7-year record

The same categories of information as the 3-year record, but over a seven-year window. Order this record type when you need driving history that reaches farther back.

Complete record

The broadest record FLHSMV offers. It can show older traffic results and license actions still retained by FLHSMV, and it also includes adjudication-withheld results and certain state correspondence that FLHSMV lists as complete-record content.

What FLHSMV includes in each record

3-year record

  • Driver license or ID card issuances, exams passed, and driver education
  • Guilty traffic results within three years of the court decision date
  • Crash entries when a ticket was issued because of the crash
  • All open suspensions, revocations, cancellations, and disqualifications
  • Those license actions cleared within three years of the date the record is run, unless FLHSMV has already removed the entry under its retention rules

7-year record

  • The same main groups of information listed for a 3-year record
  • Guilty traffic results within seven years of the court decision date
  • Crash entries tied to those guilty traffic results
  • All open license actions and actions cleared within the past seven years, unless an entry has already reached its retention limit and was removed

Complete record

  • Driver license or ID card issuances, exams passed, and driver education
  • All guilty and adjudication-withheld traffic results still kept by FLHSMV
  • Crash entries when a ticket was issued because of the crash
  • All open or closed suspensions, revocations, cancellations, and disqualifications still kept by FLHSMV
  • Certain FLHSMV correspondence entries, including some entries about failure-to-comply suspensions and traffic-school elections

What is special about a complete record?

A complete record is not simply a longer 7-year record. It can include older entries that FLHSMV still retains, and FLHSMV also lists adjudication-withheld results and certain state correspondence as complete-record content. Those items are not part of FLHSMV’s published list for the 3-year and 7-year records.

One example is a cleared D-6 suspension for failure to comply. FLHSMV says the suspension stays on the record for one year after reinstatement, then becomes a correspondence entry for two more years. That correspondence entry can appear on a complete record, but not on a 3-year or 7-year record.

Important limits

  • Complete does not mean every event for life. Each entry has an FLHSMV retention period. Once that period ends and FLHSMV removes the entry, it will not appear.
  • Most common violations do not stay forever. FLHSMV says most moving and non-moving guilty results stay for three to five years. More serious entries can stay much longer, and alcohol-related entries can stay for 75 years.
  • A crash appears only when a ticket was issued because of the crash. A driving record is not a full crash-history report.
  • Recent events may not appear yet. A court or another state must report an event before FLHSMV can add it.
  • Some court outcomes do not appear. FLHSMV says a driving record does not show arrests or outcomes of not guilty, dismissed, or nolle prosequi.

How to choose

  • Order a 3-year record when only three years were requested, or when a short view of recent driving history meets your need.
  • Order a 7-year record when seven years were requested, or when you want a wider view of recent tickets, cited crashes, and cleared license actions.
  • Order a complete record when you need the broadest state history available, including retained older entries and the adjudication-withheld and correspondence entries FLHSMV lists as complete-record content.

Official FLHSMV sources

Order a Florida driving record

Approved businesses can run a 3-year, 7-year, or complete Florida MVR from our Florida Driving Records page.

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Ordering your own record? Individuals can order a personal Florida driving record instead.