- You could be refused employment if a criminal record check reveals a criminal record or if you are forced to disclose the matter in an application.
- A crime can result in suspension or revocation of your license to practice, which also affects your employment.
- You may be denied a mortgage, car loan, student loan, or other line of credit because lenders often ask or inquire about past criminal activity.
- Some landlords conduct criminal background checks or ask for information about previous convictions, so you may encounter obstacles when trying to rent an apartment.
Are there any other restrictions on removing a crime?
Most states have a long list of requirements that must be met in order to clear a crime. These requirements generally include:
- a waiting period,
- maintaining a clean record, often without arrests, since sentencing,
- completing the penalty, including probation,
- pay all court fees and remedial action, and
- complete the cancellation request process.
General Rules for Crimes Not Eligible for Sealing Records in Texas
Most crimes involving children, sexual assault, and violent crimes do not occur in Texas for the sealing of records into question. Additionally, offenders with a DWI, Driving While Intoxicated (PC 49.04-49.08) are not eligible to have their offense sealed from their criminal records. While the DWI is removed from your DMV record after seven years, which is the time it takes for all driving violations to be removed from your DMV record, your criminal record will continue to show the DWI.
If you decide to apply to the court for sealing an unlisted felony, please note that the judgment in your case is subject to the judge’s discretion. In cases of file sealing, the judge must decide whether or not it is in the interest of the company to have your file sealed. Therefore, offenders with multiple convictions on their criminal records may not be eligible to have their criminal records sealed. The judge also considers the age of the case and the seriousness of the crime.
If you have not completed the required waiting period, you will not be able to have your file sealed. Waiting times begin at the time of the arrest or incident. There is a two-year waiting period for administrative offenses and three years for criminal offenses. Click here to obtain a copy of your Texas criminal record.
Sealing of Records and Confidentiality Orders
If you don’t qualify for a layoff, you might still be in luck. Texas law also allows a non-disclosure request when you have completed a deferred decision. The deferred decision is a type of plea agreement, in which the defendant pleads “guilty” or “no contest” to his charges in exchange for meeting certain requirements set by the court, including community oversight.
If you request confidentiality, you are requesting that your record be sealed and not deleted as it would be if it were deleted. When your record is sealed, only a small group of government agencies and select entities identified in your agreement can see your criminal record. That being said, there are some crimes that always come up on a Texas criminal background check.
What is Expunction?
The deletion process allows for the permanent removal of certain events from an individual’s criminal record. However, the scope of erasure is very limited as you must meet several requirements to qualify for this option. Deletion in Texas may apply to a felony or misdemeanor where you were acquitted at trial, the case was dropped, you were pardoned, or the state never formally charged you with a crime. Even if you do not qualify for erasure, you may still be able to obtain a non-disclosure order that protects certain crimes from disclosure, although those crimes remain visible and available to criminal justice authorities, licensing authorities, and other government agencies.
In certain circumstances, you can apply to the court for deletion. For example, if you’ve been charged with a crime that a judge or jury found you not guilty of, you may be entitled to have it removed. Other records that may be subject to deletion include:
A criminal complaint that was ultimately dismissed; certain misdemeanors classified as misdemeanours; conviction of a minor for certain alcohol-related offences; conviction for not attending school; Arresting an uncharged person provided the case is not filed and there is no felony arising out of the same transaction for which the person was arrested; Arresting a person who has never been formally charged if prosecutors certify that the records and files are not necessary for criminal investigations or prosecutions; Convicted of a criminal offense later acquitted by the Court of First Instance or the Criminal Court of Appeal; and conviction for a crime later pardoned by the Governor of Texas or the President of the United States.