An Order of Non-Disclosure, is a court order the prohibits law enforcement, courts, prosecutor offices, court clerks and others, from disclosing your criminal case information to the public.
An expunction (also referred to as “expungement” or having your record “expunged”) means that a criminal record and criminal history are effectively deleted. All records related to the arrest, charges, court proceedings, disposition, sentence, etc. are destroyed when possible or if not possible, all references to the person charged are redacted.
An expunction requires entities and agencies to permanently delete all records related to an arrest. An order of non-disclosure, prohibits law enforcement, county and district clerks and others, from sharing your criminal record information to the general public.
You can easily determine if you are eligible to have your case sealed or expunged, by using our user-friendly questionnaire.
You must complete the questionnaire separately for each case. Every case is different, and different statutes apply to different charges.
No, there is not a limit on the number of cases that you can have sealed or expunged. As long as you qualify, you can have as many cases eligible sealed or expunged.
No, our office does not handle all types of expunctions and non-disclosures. There are several types of expunctions and non-disclosures that our office does not handle such as identity theft expunctions, actual innocence expunctions, pardon expunctions, veteran court expunctions, mental health court expunctions and others.
There are countless benefits to having your case sealed or expunged. The main benefits are that people are no longer able to bring up your past case, and you won’t be forced to explain – the details of the case to any perspective employer. You will also be eligible for a better apartment, job, and more.
There is no standard time frame, but it usually takes less than 4 months. In situations where the prosecutor quickly reviews your petition, and notifies the court they are unopposed, the order can be granted in under thirty days. Expunctions can take longer, because each agency that is notified of the petition, has to be given sufficient notice of the hearing.
No, an apartment complex cannot see your case if it has been sealed or expunged.
Yes, you can petition the court to have the case expunged after the statute of limitation has expired.
No. If your case was no-billed, but there is no statute of limitation, you are able to receive a partial expunction.
A person can receive a partial expunction when their case has not been filed after a certain period of time. A partial expunction operates like a non-disclosure as it prevents outside agencies from obtaining the arrest records, but allows law enforcement agencies to keep their records for further investigation and prosecution.
Yes, an offense dismissed under section 12.45 of the Texas Penal Code can be expunged.
Each party that is notified of the expunction petition, must delete their records after the expunction has been granted.
No. Only government and private agencies that purchase criminal history information, are subject to expunction orders.
Unfortunately, you cannot have your arrest expunged. Arrests for contempt of court, failure to pay child support, and other civil penalties, are not eligible to be sealed or expunged.
When an agency receives an expunction order, the agency must destroy all files, record, and indexes arising from the arrest.
Yes, violation of an expunction order is a Class B misdemeanor. An agency that violates an expunction order may also be subjected to a fine.
The judgment from your case will state the type of probation that you were on.
Contact the County or District clerk, for the county your case is in. The clerk’s office will have all of the documents that you need.
The majority of the information that is needed, is your personal information, such as full name, date of birth, driver’s license number, address, etc. We also need information about your case, which we can obtain from court records.
Yes, you can. A misdemeanor DWI can be sealed even if you were convicted.
Your case still shows up online, because you have not obtained an order of non-disclosure. An order of non-disclosure prevents your case from showing up online.
No. A nondisclosure order applies to a single case only. To seal more than one case, you must file a separate petition for nondisclosure, for each case.
Yes, the below offenses are ineligible to be sealed:
- Murder — Capital Murder
- Human trafficking — Continuous human trafficking
- Aggravated kidnapping — Stalking
Violating court orders, or bond conditions in the following cases:
- family violence — Indecent assault
- child abuse or neglect — Stalking
- sexual assault or abuse — Trafficking
Abandoning, endangering or injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled person Offenses requiring sex offender registration
- Any offense involving family violence
You will be eligible to file for a non-disclosure 2 years after you completed your sentence. For example, if you were placed on probation, you are able to request a non-disclosure 2 years after you completed your probation.
There is a chance that there may be a waiting period before you can file your petition. Click here to learn more about waiting periods, and if your case has one.
There are two types of waiting periods.
An expunction waiting period is a period of time that must pass before a person is eligible to file for an expunction, when their case has not been filed.
A non-disclosure waiting period is a period of time that must pass before you are eligible to file a petition for non-disclosure. The waiting period does not begin until your sentence has been completed (ex. you are discharged from probation, or released from jail). During the waiting period, you cannot be convicted of, or placed on deferred probation for any offense, except a traffic ticket.
A person whose case has been sealed can deny the occurrence of the case, unless they are asked about the case in a subsequent criminal case. Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. 552.142
Only certain government agencies can see your case after an Order of Non-Disclosure is granted. A list of the agencies that can still see your case, after it has been sealed, is below:
- The State Board for Educator Certification;
- A school district, charter school, private school, regional education service center, commercial transportation company, or education shared services arrangement;
- The Texas Medical Board;
- The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired;
- The Board of Law Examiners;
- The State Bar of Texas;
- A district court regarding a petition for name change of an adult;
- The Texas School for the Deaf;
- The Department of Family and Protective Services;
- The Texas Juvenile Justice Department;
- The Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services;
- The Department of State Health Services, a local mental health service, a local intellectual and developmental disability authority, or a community center providing services to persons with mental illness or intellectual or developmental disabilities;
- The Texas Private Security Board;
- A municipal or volunteer fire department;
- The Texas Board of Nursing;
- A safe house providing shelter to children in harmful situations;
- A public or nonprofit hospital or hospital district, or a facility as defined by Section 250.001, Health and Safety Code;
- The securities commissioner, the banking commissioner, the savings and mortgage lending commissioner, the consumer credit commissioner, or the credit union commissioner;
- The Texas State Board of Public Accountancy;
- The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation;
- The Health and Human Services Commission;
- The Department of Aging and Disability Services;
- The Texas Education Agency;
- The Judicial Branch Certification Commission;
- A county clerk’s office in relation to a proceeding for the appointment of a guardian under Title 3, Estates Code;
- The Texas Cyber Command but only regarding an employee, applicant for employment, contractor, subcontractor, intern, or volunteer who provides network security services under Chapter 2059 to the Texas Cyber Command; or a contractor or subcontractor of the Texas Cyber Command;
- The Texas Department of Insurance;
- The Teacher Retirement System of Texas;
- The Texas State Board of Pharmacy;
- The Texas Civil Commitment Office;
- To other criminal justice agencies
- A bank or certain other financial institutions regulated by a state regulatory agency, but only regarding an employee, contractor, subcontractor, intern, volunteer of, or applicant for employment by that institution; and
- An employer of a facility handling, transporting, or storing certain hazardous material, but only regarding an employee, applicant for employment, contractor, or subcontractor who will be dealing with the hazardous materials.
Within 30 business days of receiving the Order, State officials and entities must seal any criminal history record information. Private businesses that provide criminal history information for money, must destroy any information that is subject to the order.
That depends on the reason a hearing was requested. Sometimes, a hearing is requested as a technicality.
At the hearing the judge will hear from any entities that are present. The judge must determine that granting your petition is in the best interest of justice, and that you qualify
Anyone who was notified of your petition, has the ability to attend the hearing to state their position. There is a strong possibility that no one will be at your hearing.
If the court denies your petition for an expunction, you have the right to appeal. If the court denies your petition for a non-disclosure, there is no statutory right to appeal.
No, we do not handle appeals. Our office diligently analyzes the applicable statues, and laws to ensure that you meet the requirements for a non-disclosure or expunction. If a court determines that granting you an Order of Non-Disclosure is not in the best interest of justice, or denies your request for any other reason, we will not file an appeal on your behalf.
Non-disclosures and expunctions are complicated. At our office, a licensed attorney reviews your final petition before we send it to you for filing. We make sure that your petition is filed under the appropriate code section, and meets the appropriate burdens. The skeletal forms that you find online are insufficient, as they don’t ensure that you qualify, tell you the appropriate code section and more. This is a big deal because if your petition is filed under the wrong code, and is denied, you may be stuck with your criminal record forever, because there may be no right to appeal.
Unfortunately, we do not.
You will receive the first draft of your petition, within 7 business days of our office receiving all of the information that we need to file your petition. We need information from both you – and the court. You will receive the final version of your petition and the proposed order, within 3 business days, after you send all needed revisions.
Yes, if you would like to rush the petition, you can pay an additional $250 rush fee. Rush petitions are typically ready within 3 business days or less.
Yes, there is a filing fee that is paid to the District or County Clerk.
If you cannot afford to pay the filing fee, you can file an Affidavit of Indigency to have the filing fee waived.
A sample affidavit of indigency is available through our office.
No. We are hired to create the appropriate petition and order. Once we send you the final documents, our obligation is fulfilled.