Deferred Adjudication

[AnotherTenant]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX

In 1991 I was charged with a felony. I believe that I plead no contest and was given the opportunity to complete a deferred adjudication process, which I successfully did in 1995. I could, however be misremembering since the very phrase "deferred adjudication" seems to me to suggest that I was never actually convicted and that the status of the case was simply held open until I completed my program.

In any event, I have been fortunate enough to have not been haunted by my crime (of which I was most definitely guilty) in the intervening years and have always believed that I can honestly state, on job applications and such, that I have never been convicted of any crimes, since my understanding was that my record would be clean. I was recently told, otherwise, however.

Can anyone tell me if a deferred adjudication will remain on my record forever in Texas? Or should I be clean?

Thanks.

 

[Dave1952]

Check your own criminal record. If you can not find this felony listed you will have the answer.

Good luck

 

[CavemanLawyer]

There is a difference between having a "clean record" and not having any convictions. Criminal histories track arrests and resulting criminal charges regardless of what the disposition of the case is.

Deferred adjudication means that you do plead guilty or no contest and the judge defers any findings in the case while you are on probation. If you complete the probation then the case against you gets dismissed with a disposition reading something like, "discharged" or "successfully completed." If no other legal action is taken then for the rest of your life your criminal history will still show the original arrest, the filing of the criminal charge, the fact that you were placed on deferred adjudication community supervision, and the fact that you completed that probation. And yes all of this means that you have no felony conviction.

If you want to "clean up" your record then your only possible option is to file a petition for non-disclosure with the court in which your case was handled. If the petition is granted then any entity that maintains a record of the charge would still be required to maintain that record, but they would be legally barred from disclosing that information to anyone without a court order. This would mean that when someone runs your criminal history (TCIC or NCIC) this charge should no longer appear.

Not all charges qualify for non-disclosure. Check out Govt. Code 411.081 to see if you qualify. If so you should probably hire an attorney to handle the paperwork for you.

Texas Government Code - Section 411.081. Application Of Subchapter - Texas Attorney Resources - Texas Laws

 

[AnotherTenant]

Thank you for your very helpful advice. It was exactly what I needed to know.