How can I clear my record?

Expunctions of Criminal Records
Many people have the misconception that if they are found “not guilty” or their case is dismissed, the records no longer exist. However that is not the reality.

Records relating to an arrest or even a criminal charge are created at the time of arrest and forwarded to the Texas Department of Public Safety. They in turn maintain a database called "TCIC." TCIC tracks arrests and dispositions of cases that follow an arrest and reports this information to the national criminal information system called "NCIC."

In addition to TCIC and NCIC, many county and district clerks’ offices maintain local computerized databases which contain records of arrests and case dispositions. Because of the Texas Open Records Act, arrest records can also be obtained by the public for private use, such as an employment background investigation; apartment leasing; etc. This means future employers, landlords and so on can discover prior criminal conduct by simply searching for your name at the court house or municipal court or via new businesses like Publicdata.com.
An Expunction Order signed by a judge is an order for the State agencies to physically and digitally erase your records. Once an expunction is granted, your criminal record, including finger prints, booking-photo, arrest report, and DPS records, is erased so it is as if the arrest never occurred.

Eligibility
Cases that resulted in dismissals, or “not guilty” verdicts, or charges that are simply not prosecuted are eligible for expunction. Class “c” deferred dispositions are also expunction eligible.

Timeline
The expunction process usually takes a few months from start to finish, which shows that the system is not very responsive to individuals needing a quick fix or cleanup of their arrest record. However, the effect of a properly completed expunction is more than worth the wait.

Final Result
Following entry of an expunction order, the release, dissemination, or use of the expunged records and files for any purpose is prohibited. The petitioner may deny the occurrence of the arrest and the existence of the expunction order.

However, when questioned under oath in a criminal proceeding about an arrest for which the records have been expunged, the petitioner is permitted to state only that the matter in question has been expunged.

As you know, once a person is arrested and charged with a crime by the police, those records are permanently available for public disclosure and distribution. In the past, the only way to prevent public disclosure of criminal records was to seek an expunction. However, an expunction is not available for people who pled to deferred adjudication probation so their arrest records were still available for public knowledge and disclosure.

Effective September 1, 2003, a solution to this problem was created. There is a new law that allows a person who successfully completes a deferred adjudication to request an ND from the court.

If granted, an ND prohibits criminal justice agencies from disclosing records to the public related to that arrest and charge. However, if your particular offense calls for a waiting period, you may lose your eligibility for this Order if you receive a subsequent conviction or deferred adjudication.

Once your ND is signed, the Texas Department of Public Safety is required to send a copy of the order to all state and federal law enforcement agencies that have criminal records subject to the order. These records are exempt from disclosure under the Public Information Act. An ND also allows you to deny the occurrence of that arrest and prosecution unless the records are being used in subsequent criminal proceeding.