EXPUNCTIONS

Under certain circumstances, a person in Texas can have criminal records erased, or "expunged." Generally speaking, the person's criminal charges must have been dismissed, or the person must have been found not guilty after a trial. Contrary to popular belief, a successfully served deferred adjudication probation cannot be expunged, except in the case of certain class C misdemeanor offenses. (An order of nondisclosure may be possible, however. See the section below.) Records subject to an expunction order may include those of the arresting agency, the Department of Public Safety, the court of prosecution, and the prosecutor's office.

For the Expunction statutes, CLICK HERE

ORDERS OF NON-DISCLOSURE

The Texas Legislature finally has passed a statute allowing someone who successfully completes a term of deferred adjudication probation to obtain an order of nondisclosure of criminal records pertaining to the arrest and offense. There are restrictions on eligibility, focusing on the person’s previous criminal history and conduct between the termination of supervision and the filing of the petition for nondisclosure. For many misdemeanor offenses, an eligible person may file the petition immediately upon discharge from the deferred adjudication supervision. For some misdemeanors, the person may not file the petition until 2 years after the discharge from supervision. For felonies, the person may not file until 5 years after the discharge from supervision.

Not all defendants who successfully complete a deferred adjudication probation are entitled to an order of nondisclosure. A person is not eligible if he/she has ever been convicted or placed on deferred adjudication for: an offense requiring registration as a sex offender, aggravated kidnapping, murder, capital murder, injury to a child/elderly/disabled individual, abandoning or endangering a child, violations of a protective order or magistrate's order, or any offense involving family violence.

Obtaining an order of nondisclosure is very advantageous. A person who receives an order of nondisclosure my deny having been arrested or prosecuted for the offense, unless the information is being used against the person in a subsequent criminal proceeding. However, an order of nondisclosure does not require the government to destroy the information. The information may be released to criminal justice agencies, non-criminal justice agencies authorized by statute or executive order to receive criminal history record information, and the person who is the subject of the criminal history information.

Private entities that compile and disseminate for compensation criminal history record information may not do so with respect to which an order of nondisclosure has been issued. A district court may issue a warning to a private entity for a first violation, but faces a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for each subsequent violation.

I charge a flat fee for these services which includes all civil filing fees that go along with this process.