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There are many reasons why a person might be looking to get their criminal record expunged. If you have a misdemeanor on your criminal record, it could be preventing you from getting a job, renting an apartment, traveling abroad or even qualifying for insurance. It’s important to know what options are available to clear your criminal record, and which one is the most appropriate for you.
In the state of Texas, there are three levels of criminal offenses:
- Infractions
- Misdemeanor
- Felony
Misdemeanors are lesser crimes than felonies, but do mean you could face some jail time and fines.
There are also three types of Misdemeanors, as we discussed in this article in more detail.
- Class A
- Class B
- Class C
The good news is that it is possible to expunge or seal your criminal records, which means, when it happens, it can hide this information from employers and landlords when running a background check on your personal information.
You can apply for expunction if you were arrested and either the court acquitted you, you were never charged, you were found innocent or pardoned or charges were dismissed.
To file, according to the Texas law, you must wait a certain time depending on the type of crime.
Class C misdemeanor there is a wait time of 180 days after arrest to apply. For Class A and B, the waiting period is 12 months. You can even get expunged for certain felonies, and the wait time for that is 3 years.
If you don’t qualify for expunction, you can potentially qualify for record sealing through an order of nondisclosure when you complete deferred adjudication. We will talk more about this in an upcoming blog post next week!
