Houston Expungement Lawyer
Clear your Criminal Record
Unfortunately, the reality of our criminal justice system is that arrests stay on an individual’s record long after the matter is resolved. An arrest record can follow you and also it must be recognized in employment applications, rental agreements, and even future civil law matters, if relevant, even if you are found innocent or never even have charges officially filed against you. Fortunately, there are ways to expunge these arrest records and remove them from your legal history. Expunction is designed for those circumstances where a defendant was never actually convicted of a crime or the conviction was overturned. The main reason for expunction is to prevent innocent people from suffering adverse consequences due to the mistakes in the criminal justice system.
Don’t let an earlier legal issue affect the rest of your life. The best way to find out which criminal records are eligible for expunction in Texas is to call an experienced expungement lawyer who is knowledgeable about Texas expungement/expunction law.
Have an arrest record and interested in expungement?
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Which criminal records are eligible for expunction in Texas?
- An arrest in which you were released without being charged.
- Criminal charges that were eventually dismissed. But those dismissals after the deferred adjudication cannot be expunged, except for Class C Misdemeanors
- An offense for which pretrial diversion was successfully completed.
- A criminal charge that resulted in a Not Guilty verdict or acquittal.
- An arrest in which your name appears in the record by mistake.
Which criminal records are NOT eligible for expungement/expunction in Texas?
- An arrest that resulted in a guilty conviction
- An arrest that resulted in community supervision or probation, except for Class C Misdemeanors.
- Certain criminal charges that were ultimately dismissed but that are still within the statute of limitations period.
Record Sealing vs Record Expungement
To decide if your criminal record should be hidden or expunged can be a difficult decision but, state laws do limit your decision based on the type of crime you were charged with and whether or not you were convicted to a certain extent.
However, in some cases, expungement may not be allowed. It is sometimes possible to file a petition to have your record sealed. Though, Sealing does not have the advantages of expungement it is still an option if your petition for expungement is denied on eligibility grounds.
Juvenile Records
A child’s records will be placed under restricted access automatically when the child turns 21. However, this occurs only if the child has not been convicted of or placed on a deferred adjudication for a class A or B misdemeanor or a felony since the individual’s 17th birthday.
However, if the child commits a crime after the records are placed under restricted access, the records will be removed from restricted access and made available to the public again.
You should consult with a Houston Juvenile Defense Attorney if you have questions about restricted access or if you wish to seal juvenile records which have been removed from restricted access.
Advantages of Expunging Your Record
Even one criminal record can keep a person from gaining employment, or prevent from getting into certain schools and in most cases it makes one subject to a long lasting public stigma. Contact your local Houston based Expungement lawyers to establish whether your criminal record can be expunged.
Let us start your expungement process now!
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Experienced Houston Misdemeanor Attorneys