Expunctions + Nondisclosures
EXPUNCTION OF ARREST RECORDS
In Texas, someone who was acquitted of a crime at trial, who has had their case dismissed or “no billed” by a grand jury, who has successfully completed pretrial diversion, or was pardoned by the Governor may be entitled to an EXPUNCTION of the arrest. That means the complete destruction of all records related to the arrest and the criminal case. Chapter 55A of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure governs expunctions. The statute is complex, but it essentially requires that a qualified person file a lawsuit in a district court in the jurisdiction where the arrest occurred and to prove his or her eligibility.
Mark White Law has significant experience with getting clients’ arrest records expunged. We can generally tell you whether you are eligible for an expunction after a short consultation. If you are eligible, then in most cases getting your records expunged is often just a matter of filing the lawsuit under the correct provision of Chapter 55A.
Contact Mark White Law for a free consultation.
NONDISCLOSURE (SEALING) OF ARREST RECORDS
If you pled guilty to an offense, but the court deferred a finding a guilt and placed you on community supervision (which is how the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure refers to what is commonly called “deferred adjudication”), there is a very good chance that you may be entitled to have your arrest record NON-DISCLOSED or sealed. In many misdemeanor cases, you may be entitled to nondisclosure even if you served jail time instead of receiving community supervision. A petition for nondisclosure is filed in the same court where the criminal case had been filed originally.
If the law allows it, a nondisclosure means that the public cannot access your arrest records, which really helps you avoid trouble with job interviews, apartment rental applications, and other hassles that an arrest can create in life. Police and state agencies that issue professional licenses still will have access to your non-disclosed arrest records, but the general public and private background check companies will not. That said, once made public, your arrest records may remain in public databases until the order of nondisclosure is made known to the database owner. Nondisclosure allows you to require the private databases to delete the arrest information once they are put on notice.
There are numerous categories of offenses not subject to nondisclosure and there are waiting periods for filing. You may or may not qualify depending on whether you were charged with another offense subsequent to the one you seek to have non-disclosed. The law governing nondisclosure is Chapter 411 of the Texas Government Code. It is complex, and you should really have an experienced lawyer help you file for nondisclosure.
Let Mark White Law help you navigate this complicated law to determine whether you qualify and then to get you the nondisclosure that you deserve.
