Texas Expungement Assistance

[minddetinator]

hello i am new here i was convicted august 19 2001 i just turned 18 it was a class b misdeminor i was carted off to jail for acouple of hours they let me go on my own i needed no bail i went back to court with a lawyer he told me i could take 2 year probation but i was moving toanother city so i said no then he came out and told me that i could pay a 200$ fine and walk away so i did i know that that 200 would haunt me i cant get a decent paying job im afraid to go to school becasue if i do i would not be able to apply for a postion becasue of my background my life has come to a grinding hault becasue of this i am now 22 i will be 23 august 1. Can i get this expunged or sealed in Houston, Texas please help !!!!!

[minddetinator]

sorry it was a class b misdeminor i was convited of it it seems so i take it i cannot do anything right ???

[aaron]

Under Texas law it appears that you would first have to obtain a pardon, and that you could then apply for expunction of your record. (This is not likely to happen, given the current pardon policies of the Texas government.)

Right to Expunction

(a) A person who has been placed under a custodial or noncustodial arrest for commission of either a felony or misdemeanor is entitled to have all records and files relating to the arrest expunged if:

(1) the person is tried for the offense for which the person was arrested and is:

(A) acquitted by the trial court, except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section; or

(B) convicted and subsequently pardoned; or

(2) each of the following conditions exist:

(A) an indictment or information charging the person with commission of a felony has not been presented against the person for an offense arising out of the transaction for which the person was arrested or, if an indictment or information charging the person with commission of a felony was presented, the indictment or information has been dismissed or quashed, and:

(i) the limitations period expired before the date on which a petition for expunction was filed under Article 55.02; or

(ii) 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 absence of probable cause at the time of the dismissal to believe the person committed the offense or because it was void;

(B) the person has been released and the charge, if any, has not resulted in a final conviction and is no longer pending and there was no court ordered community supervision under Article 42.12 for any offense other than a Class C misdemeanor; and

(C) the person has not been convicted of a felony in the five years preceding the date of the arrest.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section, a district court may expunge all records and files relating to the arrest of a person who has been arrested for commission of a felony or misdemeanor under the procedure established under Article 55.02 of this code if the person is:

(1) tried for the offense for which the person was arrested;

(2) convicted of the offense; and

(3) acquitted by the court of criminal appeals.

(c) A court may not order the expunction of records and files relating to an arrest for an offense for which a person is subsequently acquitted, whether by the trial court or the court of criminal appeals, if the offense for which the person was acquitted arose out of a criminal episode, as defined by Section 3.01, Penal Code, and the person was convicted of or remains subject to prosecution for at least one other offense occurring during the criminal episode.

(d) A person is entitled to have any information that identifies the person, including the person's name, address, date of birth, driver's license number, and social security number, contained in records and files relating to the arrest of another person expunged if:

(1) the information identifying the person asserting the entitlement to expunction was falsely given by the person arrested as the arrested person's identifying information without the consent of the person asserting the entitlement; and

(2) the only reason for the information identifying the person asserting the entitlement being contained in the arrest records and files of the person arrested is that the information was falsely given by the person arrested as the arrested person's identifying information.

In addition, five years after the discharge and dismissal of enumerated misdemeanor offenses and ten years after the discharge and dismissal of felony offenses for which the person was placed on deferred adjudication and successfully completed the required community supervision, a person may petition a court for an order of nondisclosure [Tex. Gov't. Code 411.081(d)(1)(2) ]. An order of non-disclosure should prevent an employer from discovering he conviction record, as state agencies would be ordered not to disclose it.

[vmcmurry]

I'm sorry to say, but the only thing you could do is attempt to get a pardon which are very few and far between. I believe the success rate of obtaining a pardon in Texas is about 8% and you have to show some very exceptional circumstances. Try visiting the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles website which provides the necessary qualifications and procedures.

[minddetinator]

thank you very much for your responses i will try wehat yall say about the pardon !!!!! if anyone else has any suggestions please feel free to post more !!! So you do not think my age and lack of job opputunities at such a young age will work as a good circumstance