Expunctions in Texas

In Texas, getting an expunction, or an expungement, or having an arrest record expunged, is the closest to "it never happened" possible. Law enforcement, prosecutors, and the courts remove their records completely.

Texas allows an expunction in a few circumstances, with the common theme for most that the person was released and does not face further prosecution:

• After a trial resulting in an acquittal, or an acquittal granted by a court of appeals

• After a conviction set aside by a pardon or by some other means on the basis of actual innocence, such as a successful writ of habeas corpus

• Any conviction for unlawful carrying a handgun committed prior to September 1, 2021

• An arrest involving mistaken or stolen identity, where the arrested person falsely provides the identifying information of the person seeking expunction

• After the case is no longer pending, but only if there was no court-ordered community supervision (other than for a class C misdemeanor)

• After successful completion of a veterans treatment court, mental health court, or pretrial intervention program

• Certain juvenile offenses

• Possession of alcohol by a minor or related offenses (under certain circumstances, and only after the minor reaches 21 years of age)

• Conviction under Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 101.72 (under certain circumstances)

Once a court grants an expunction, the court will order the records held by various agencies returned to the clerk, or if return is impractical, the agency will destroy the records. The clerk will keep the records for a period of time set out in the order, allowing the person seeking the expunction to obtain copies of the records, if desired, and will after the period expires, the clerk will destroy the records.

From beginning to end, the process often takes a few months to complete, with third party background check services sometimes taking some additional time or effort. Once granted, the person can legally deny the occurrence of the arrest or the existence of the expunction, except when testifying in a criminal case--then the person may state only that the matter in question has been expunged.

If you have questions about obtaining an expunction, please feel free to contact our office.

Thanks for reading!