Shoplifting

Hi. In 2003, when I was 17, I was arrested for shoplifting in Houston, TX. It was a class B misdeamenor and I was placed under deferred adjudication for a year. I completed everything and a year later I was removed off probation. A few months later I filed for non-disclosure and the judge granted me the order. It is now 2006, I am 20 and about to start my junior year in college and I am studying to become an accountant. A month ago I applied to Bank of America to work as a teller I was hired and then I was let go because of my criminal background check. Appearently, because of the check that they run or the company they use, they can see the charge. What I want to know is am I completely screwed? As an account I possibly will want to take the CPA exam, and I am under the impression that because the charge is class B that I cannot get it expunged. Also I am assuming that most banks use the same background check process. Anyway I just wanted someones opinion, if there was anything I could do.

In Texas, under some circumstances, you may be able to have a criminal record expunged, which means that the records are returned to you or destroyed.

You may be eligible for expungement if:

• A criminal charge against you has been dismissed, you have been found not guilty, or you have been pardoned; or
• Someone used your name or identification when arrested (identity theft); or
• You are a juvenile who has completed a deferred sentence; or
• You are an underage drinking first offender.

If you are eligible to have your records expunged, you may file a petition in court. A person who has reached age 17 must make a sworn written request to have juvenile records expunged.

In addition, if you have received a discharge and dismissal from deferred adjudication community supervision (an alternative sentencing program in Texas), you may petition the court for a nondisclosure order following dismissal for some misdemeanors, five years after dismissal for other misdemeanors, or 10 years after dismissal for felonies. A nondisclosure order prohibits criminal justice agencies from disclosing criminal history information to the public.

Nondisclosure orders are available to those who have successfully completed deferred adjudication probation. A petition for order of nondisclosure asks the court to seal your record from the public, although it is not as comprehensive as an expunction because your file remains intact for governmental purposes.