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Clearing Your Texas Criminal Record Through Expunction or Orders of Non-Disclosure
Texas law provides a way for you to clear your criminal record through the processes of expunction and orders of non-disclosure.
January 07, 2012 /Children and Youth PR News/ -- Your criminal history: you are asked to describe it on job and housing applications, it will come up if you are pulled over for a traffic stop, it could prevent educational opportunities by barring you from qualifying for certain loans or grants and it has the potential to haunt you for the rest of your life. That's the bad news. The good news is that Chapter 55 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure provides a way for you to clear your record through the processes of expunction and orders of non-disclosure.
What Can an Expunction or Order of Non-Disclosure Do for You?
If you apply for and are granted an expunction, order of non-disclosure or a motion to seal a juvenile criminal record, it will be like arrest records, convictions for certain crimes and court proceeding transcripts never happened. That information will no longer be available to the public when background checks are run -- orders of non-disclosure prevent the information from being accessed through the provisions of the Public Information Act.
Records that are subject to expunction (sometimes called "expungement") are no longer contained in any criminal history database. They are cleared from your record entirely. The statute itself states that if an expunction is ordered, the court shall certify "the destruction of files or other records" pertaining to the application for expunction or "obliterate all portions of the records or file that identify the petitioner." The process for expunction is an exacting one, and a skilled attorney could help ensure that an application is properly filed and has the best possible chance for success.
Orders of non-disclosure are slightly less powerful than expunctions, but are still powerful tools designed to improve both an applicants standing in the eyes of the public and open up previously closed doors of opportunity. These will keep a successful applicant from having to disclose prior arrests, crimes for which he or she was acquitted or pardoned and convictions for which the applicant successfully completed the conditions of public service, counseling or probation/parole.
Sealing Juvenile Records
Kids will be kids, and sometimes childish fun goes a bit too far and results in criminal activity. If that happens to your child, it could stain his or her otherwise stellar record and possibly ruin chances for scholarships, student loans, public educational grants and on-campus housing. While Texas laws are tough on crime, they do understand that youthful mistakes can be made. That is why they allow for the sealing of juvenile records under certain circumstances. When juvenile criminal records are ordered sealed, they completely disappear from the state's criminal justice records and will not be available for any purpose at any time. Some juvenile records are only accessible in limited circumstances pursuant to Texas Family Code 58.203, but others need to be sealed by application to keep them off limits.
If you have questions about the expunction, sealing or non-disclosure of Texas criminal history, speak with a skilled criminal defense attorney in your area to learn more about your legal options.
Article provided by Law Offices of Gary Churak, P.C.
Visit us at www.garychuraklaw.com
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