Fort Bend Expungement & Criminal Record Sealing Lawyer

Talk to Our Fort Bend County Expungement Attorneys

An arrest, even without a conviction, can leave a permanent mark on your wellbeing and reputation. When you are seeking employment, new housing, and loans, your application could be turned down solely due to a prior arrest. In Texas, people are given the opportunity to clean up their past and stabilize their futures through expungements or the sealing of their criminal records.

Although these two processes are quite similar in purpose, they are intricately different in execution. If you think that expungement or record sealing could benefit you, talk to Stornello Law Firm, P.C. Our criminal defense lawyers can review your case and criminal record during a free consultation to determine your eligibility.

A brighter tomorrow might be a phone call away – contact Stornello Law Firm, P.C. at (281) 761-7160​.

What is Expungement?

The simplest way to think of expungement is to think of it as erasing a particular arrest from your record entirely. If an expungement, sometimes called an expunction, is successful, it will be as if it never existed in the first place. You can deny the arrest on applications and under oath, and the physical file itself that contained the arrest’s information should actually be destroyed.

Am I Eligible for Expungement?

Expungement only applies to arrests that never led to a permanent conviction, which means you had:

• Never been charged for a crime.
• Completed pre-trial diversions.
• Been released through a case dismissal.
• Received a no-bill verdict from a grand jury.
• Received a “not guilty” verdict or acquittal.
• Been pardoned after being convicted.

There are certain arrests that will not be eligible for expungement based on the crime that was in question. If you were arrested for a felony, such as grand theft or vehicular homicide, or a sex crime, such as child molestation or sexual battery, you may not be able to seek expunction, regardless of the ultimate outcome of that case.

What is Criminal Record Sealing?

Criminal record sealing is an alternative to expungement that does not erase arrests from your record entirely but rather seals your record to most people and parties. You may think of it as literally closing a file that only authorized personnel, such as law enforcement officers and certain private entities, can view; for everyone else, they will not be aware the record exists. In rare cases, your criminal record can be opened to anyone who obtains an official court order.

Sealing criminal records is available to anyone who was placed on deferred adjudication probation and successfully completed the probation. There is a waiting period depending on the type of offense.