Sealing or Expunging Your Record
Your criminal history can keep you from doing many things in life. It can limit future opportunities for employment, education, financial aid, government housing, food stamps, and other government assistance. Aside from that, having a criminal record carries a stigma in society that can be difficult, if not impossible, to bear.
It is possible in many situations to have your criminal record cleaned up. There are two basic methods available: Expunction and Non-Disclosure. Each method does different things to your record and is available only in certain scenarios.
The many restrictions on Expunction and Non-Disclosure make it important to contact a criminal defense attorney to guide you through the process.
Expunction
Expunction removes criminal charges from your record like they were never there at all. Because an expunction destroys records forever, it is available in very limited circumstances. If the charges were dismissed, you were acquitted, or if you had a conviction overturned on appeal, you may be eligible for an expunction.
Non-Disclosure
If you were placed on deferred adjudication and successfully completed it, you may be eligible for a Non-Disclosure. At the end of your deferred adjudication, if you’ve completed everything successfully, the court will dismiss the charges against you. Deferred Adjudication records ARE public. Your arrest and deferred sentence are NOT removed from your records at the end of your community supervision.
However, a court can prohibit criminal justice agencies from disclosing to the public criminal history record information if you file a Petition for Non-Disclosure.
The court’s order will be sent to the Department of Public Safety. DPS will then send the order to all sorts of government agencies and offices who are then required not to disclose the information to the public.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CASE
Figuring out if there are defenses to your case requires consulting an experienced attorney. Use the form below to set up a free consultation where we can review the details and possible scenarios for your case together.