Expungement Attorney Dallas

About Expungements

In many cases, an arrest is issued but the state does not have enough of a case to convict a person for whatever crime they supposedly committed. In this instance, the state frequently drops the case against the suspect. Other times, juries will find an individual not guilty. When this happens, an individual is not guilty of a crime but an arrest still shows up on their criminal record. This can still be damaging, even if an individual was never convicted of anything.

If this is the case, an expungement is your best option. An expungement is a type of lawsuit in which the suspect in a prior criminal investigation or proceeding seeks to have the record of that previous process be sealed or destroyed. This restores the subject's name. Even though an expungement deals with an underlying criminal record, the expungement suit is actually a civil suit.

Texas law allows for the expungement of arrests which did not lead to a finding of guilt. It also allows people that have been convicted of a Class C Misdemeanor to expunge this record if the defendant received deferred adjudication and completed their community service and supervision. If the defendant was found guilty, pled guilty, or pled "no contest" to any offense other than a Class C Misdemeanor, the record is not eligible for expungement but the record may be eligible for non-disclosure if deferred adjudication was granted.

Following the expungement suit, the release, distribution, or use of expunged records by any agency is prohibited. Also, even if a person is questioned while under oath, the defendant may deny the occurrence of the arrest and the expungement order.

For more information on expungement suits in Texas, contact the Dallas Expungements Attorneys of the Law Office of Mark Lassiter. He has extensive experience clearing people's good name.