Sealing Criminal Records Attorney

Pursuant to Chapter 55, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, a person who has been arrested for either a felony or misdemeanor offense may have their criminal records expunged if:

• The person is tried and ACQUITTED (found Not Guilty);
• The person is convicted, but subsequently PARDONED;
• The person has not been indicted or had any information filed for the arrested conduct, or had their indictment or information dismissed or quashed, AND;

1. The statute of limitations has expired, or
2. The Court finds that the indictment or information was dismissed or quashed because the presentment had been made because of mistake, false information, or other similar reason indicating a lack of probable cause.

• The arrest has not resulted in a Final Conviction, is no longer pending, and there was no court-ordered community supervision (probation) for any offense above a Class C misdemeanor. (This provision “knocks out” all deferred adjudication offenses of a Class B misdemeanor level and above.)
• The person has not been convicted of a felony in the five years preceding the date of arrest.

If the defendant in a criminal trial is ACQUITTED, his defense attorney should request that the trial court enter an Order of Expunction no later than 30 days after the date of acquittal.

A person otherwise entitled to an Expunction of Records but who was tried and found Not Guilty must file a Petition for Expunction of Records in the district court for the county in which either: 1) the defendant was arrested, or 2) the offense was alleged to have occurred.

The Petition for Expunction of Records is assigned a civil case number and the case is set for hearing NO SOONER THAN 30 days from the date the petition is filed.

Every official entity or agency having records of the subject arrest must be served with a copy of the Petition and must be notified of the hearing date.

If the Court finds that the person is entitled to expunction of any records and files that are the subject of the petition, it shall enter an order directing expunction and directing each agency to turn in its records to the district clerk or certify to the court that the records have been destroyed and delete all relevant information of the arrest from its computer/electronic files.

No agency or entity subject to the order of expunction may release, maintain, disseminate, or use the records for any reason.
The applicant for expunction may legally deny the occurrence of the arrest and the existence of the expunction order.
If the applicant is subsequently questioned under oath in a criminal proceeding about an arrest that has been the subject of an expunction order, the applicant may state only that the matter has been expunged.

Yes, deferred adjudication records are public. There is a common misconception that deferred adjudication records are removed from a defendant's criminal history upon successful conclusion of the community supervision (probation) period.

In fact, the law does not provide for automatic expunction of deferred adjudication records. The records do become part of the defendant’s “permanent record” and the arrest, court process, and probation record will appear on a criminal background check.

Accordingly, unless there is a court order directing otherwise, records of a prosecution resulting in a deferred adjudication are publicly available in the District Clerk's (felony) and County Clerk’s (misdemeanor) records, the Texas Crime Information Center database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the National Crime Information Center maintained by the Department of Justice.

In addition, the records of the arrest, investigation, and jailing are on file with the investigating agency, with the agency that jailed or processed the defendant upon arrest, and with the magistrate who set bond and conducted the initial appearance.

There are two ways that deferred adjudication community supervision records can be made non-public:

1. Class C deferred adjudications

By filing an expunction under Article 45.051(e), Code of Criminal Procedure (if the Class C deferred adjudication was imposed in justice court or municipal court), or by filing an expunction under Article 55.01(a)(2), Code of Criminal Procedure (if the Class C deferred adjudication was imposed in county or district court). Expunction is not available for deferred adjudication sentences for Class B, Class A, or felony offenses.

2. Petition for nondisclosure

Under Section 411.081(d), Government Code, a court can prohibit criminal justice agencies from disclosing to the public criminal history record information related to certain offenses for which the offender was placed on deferred adjudication.

There are many offenses, however, for which this procedure is unavailable. Moreover, a defendant may be disqualified if he commits an offense after the deferred adjudication has been completed and before filing the petition. 

Anyone who has ever committed any of the following offenses (including the offense for which the defendant got deferred adjudication) is not entitled to seek an order of nondisclosure:

• Indecency with a child
• Sexual assault
• Aggravated sexual assault
• Prohibited sexual conduct (incest)
• Aggravated kidnapping
• Burglary of a habitation with intent to commit any of the above offenses
• Compelling prostitution
• Sexual performance by a child
• Possession or promotion of child pornography
• Unlawful restraint, kidnapping, or aggravated kidnapping of a person younger than 17 years of age
• Attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit any of the above offenses
• Capital murder
• Murder
• Injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual
• Abandoning or endangering a child
• Violation of protective order or magistrate's order
• Stalking
• Any other offense involving family violence

Under Section 411.081(d), the defendant has to wait a certain period of time after the date of discharge and dismissal before filing a petition for an order of nondisclosure. The operative date is not the date that the defendant entered his plea: it is the date that the deferred adjudication was concluded.