Expunging old record information

[cdraid]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

I have a friend who is having a hard time obtaining gainful employment due to an issue that occurred back in 1998 in Texas and is on her record incorrectly. She is trying to get it expunged and is having a difficult time finding the right person(s) to contact who would assist her. She called the county clerk's office where the incident occurred without any good response. We are trying to determine the next best course of action and any advice in that direction would be greatly appreciated. Would gladly expound in further detail to the proper personnel. Thank you.

 

[garrula lingua]

You didn't give enough specifics about the 'crime'.

Texas is one the hardest states in which to expunge a crime.
You have to have been acquitted or charges dismissed by the Prosecutor to file in court for expungement.
The only other way is to get a pardon from the Governor (the Board of Pardons vets the requests and sends them on the Gov).

 

[cdraid]

The crime

The crime was from writing a bad check for a few hundred dollars I believe. They were sentenced to 2 yrs. probabtion and community service but their record shows they did some jail time, which was emphatically denied.

 

[garrula lingua]

You'll have to get a pardon from the gov to allow expungement.

You can go to court clerk & pull file and check for erroneous jail entry.
That can be corrected by the clerk supervisor/Judge if there is a clerical error on the record.

You have two separate issues: one with the court (error in stating jail) and one with the Board of Pardons/Gov (expungement of crime).

 

[CavemanLawyer]

I doubt her record shows that she did jail time if that is not what she plead to. Probation means that you are sentenced to a term of confinement and that sentence is probated for a period of time. If you complete that time period successfully, than you never have to serve the time. On your criminal history (NCIC and TCIC) it will show that you were sentenced for X amount of jail time and probated for Y amount of time. That is probably what you are seeing when you think it says she did jail time. That is just how it reads.

I also doubt potential employers really care whether she went to jail or not. The most important thing is that she is convicted of theft. If she is only concerned with people knowing her actual punishment than she can request a copy of her judgment from the clerk's office and show it to anyone who questions what she plead to.

If your friend plead to non-deferred probation than there is nothing she can do about her record. She is not going to get a pardon, it doesn't happen. If her probation was deferred than after a certain period of time she may qualify to have her record sealed so that employers cannot see the charge. If she is unclear about whether she was put on straight or deferred probation, than again just get a copy of the judgment. If she wants to seal the record she should probably hire an attorney who can file a petition of non-disclosure.