Expunctions & Orders of Non-Disclosure
Employment background checks are commonplace at nearly any occupation. These employment background checks have a huge impact on hiring and/or promotion decisions. Unfortunately, people make mistakes in their past that follow them around and prevent them from moving on with life.
In Texas, a person may request an expunction or order of non-disclosure to remove or seal certain criminal records from their past. Depending on your case, these records may be expunged or sealed by an order of non-disclosure.
An expunction will destroy all records of an arrest or indictment for a crime and all subsequent activity on the case, as long as you were acquitted of the charge after trial or the charges were dismissed and the requisite statutory waiting period has been satisfied. An expunction order will force all public agencies to destroy all records of an arrest and subsequent activity in a case. Once an expunction has been granted, all information related to the charge, including the arrest, cannot and will not show up on a background check.
If an expunction is not available for a case, then an order of non-disclosure is the next best thing to clean up a person’s criminal records. An order of non-disclosure seals records of an arrest that resulted in deferred adjudication and after the requisite statutory waiting period has been satisfied.
An order of non-disclosure does not destroy the records, but rather seals them to prevent the public and private agencies from discovering these records. However, the records continue to be available to both state and federal law enforcement agencies, as well other government administrative state and federal agencies.
Don’t hesitate to call us for an evaluation of your case and help you obtain either an expunction or order of non-disclosure depending on the circumstances of your case. We are here to help!