Texas Deferred Adjudication
Community Supervision
(AKA: Deferred Adjudication Probation)
Nearly 2 million Texans have accepted deferred
adjudication judgments for misdemeanors and felony arrests
with the misconception that once the probation period was
over and the charge dismissed that it would not be on their
record. Unfortunately this is not the case: the arrest,
court and the judgment of deferred adjudication remain on
your record and available to the public to view unless you
are granted a Petition for Non-Disclosure through the
Courts.
Deferred Adjudication
In Texas, many landlords, potential creditors, mortgage
companies and employers check your background to investigate
potential tenants, borrowers and employees. These companies
generally treat a deferred adjudication the same as a
conviction. That means that people are often unable to rent
apartments or get jobs because a deferred adjudication
judgment is on their record.
The law concerning
deferred adjudication records changed
effective September 1, 2003. Prior to this, a record of
deferred adjudication probation remained accessible to the
public. As of September 1, 2003, a person who has
successfully completed a deferred adjudication probation for
a class B misdemeanor, a class A misdemeanor, or even a
felony, may (depending on the offense committed) be able to
ask the judge of the court of original jurisdiction to sign
an Order of Non-Disclosure barring governmental agencies
from disclosing the existence of the charge or the deferred
adjudication sentence.
For most misdemeanors, the defendant can petition for the
Order of Non-Disclosure immediately after his
deferred
adjudication is discharged. For others, a defendant must
wait years after a deferred adjudication is discharged to
file for an Order of Non-Disclosure. For felonies, there is
a longer waiting period after the deferred adjudication is
discharged. Some offenses cannot be sealed with an Order of
Non-Disclosure.
After a judge has ordered nondisclosure, the defendant may
deny the occurrence of the arrest and prosecution unless the
information is being used against him in a subsequent
criminal proceeding. |
