What Crimes Can Be Expunged in Texas?

In Texas you can expunge an arrest that never turned into a conviction: a charge that was never filed, a case that was dismissed (some clear right away, some only after a wait), an acquittal at trial, or a Class C that ended in deferred disposition. A conviction or probation, deferred adjudication included, can’t be expunged unless it was a Class C. But a lot of those records can be sealed with an order of nondisclosure, and that’s the option most people never hear about. Call (713) 664-4000 or run your case through our free eligibility tool, and a Houston criminal defense lawyer on our team will tell you which one fits your record.

What Qualifies for Expungement

There are many misconceptions surrounding expungement and its process. Some people are surprised to learn that even if the charges against them were dropped or dismissed, the fact that they were arrested can still show up on a background check. An expunction is what takes it off. The State Bar of Texas explains that your crime may qualify for expungement if one or more of the following factors are present in your case:

• You were arrested but never charged.
• The charges brought against you were eventually dismissed.
• You were the victim of identity theft.
• You were found not guilty in a trial.

Depending on your case, you may be subject to a waiting period. Under Article 55A.052 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, which replaced the old Article 55.01 on January 1, 2025, the wait applies where you were arrested and no indictment or information was ever presented. It runs from the date of the arrest, and the length is set by the grade of the offense you were arrested for:

• 180 days for a Class C misdemeanor
• One year for a Class B or Class A misdemeanor
• Three years for a felony

The wait disappears if the prosecutor certifies that the arrest records are not needed for any criminal investigation or prosecution. That certification is worth asking for, and asking for it is part of the work rather than sitting out the clock. Those periods only apply when you were arrested and no charge was ever filed. Once an indictment or information has been presented, you are on a different track and the wait can be much longer. If the charge was dismissed for one of the reasons Article 55A.053 lists, there is no waiting period at all. That list covers completion of a pretrial intervention program, a veterans treatment court program or a mental health court program, a dismissal because of mistake or false information showing there was no probable cause, and a void charging instrument. If the case was dismissed for any other reason, there are two routes. The first is the prosecutor. Under Article 55A.101(a)(2), the court may expunge the arrest if the prosecutor’s office recommends it before trial, whether or not charges were ever filed. Both the recommendation and the order are discretionary, which is why the time to ask for it is while the dismissal is being negotiated. The second is Article 55A.054, which opens only when prosecution is no longer possible because the limitations period has run. Those periods are set offense by offense in Chapter 12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure: two years for a misdemeanor, three years for most felonies, five for theft, robbery and kidnapping, seven for most fraud offenses, ten years for several others, and twenty years from the victim’s eighteenth birthday for a number of offenses against children. For murder, manslaughter, continuous sexual abuse of a young child, and sexual assault where the biological evidence was never tested or does not match anyone, Article 12.01(1) sets no limitation at all, which means that route never opens. So the offense does change how long you wait. It just does it through the limitations period rather than through any schedule written into the expunction statute. And a conviction closes the door regardless. Under Article 55A.051, a final conviction or court-ordered community supervision cannot be expunged however long you wait, and the question becomes whether the record can be sealed with an order of nondisclosure instead. The exception is a Class C, like most traffic tickets and other fine-only offenses. A Class C that ended in deferred disposition and was dismissed can still be expunged. If you are unsure of whether a certain offense qualifies for expungement, a criminal defense lawyer will review your case. Upon a full review, they can determine whether it is a viable option for you. A petition for expunction requires that you disclose the following information:

• Your name, sex, race, and date of birth
• The date of the offense
• The case number
• The court that handled your case
• The nature of the offense

If you do not have the proper information, filling out these forms can be a waste of time, and even the smallest error will cause it to be rejected. When you work with a criminal defense lawyer, they can provide you with the information you need to move forward with the expungement process. They can also file your petitions in the appropriate courts where they will be considered.

Blass Law Understands the Expungement Process

We file expunctions and nondisclosures in Harris County and the surrounding counties, and the first step is pulling your actual record, because what people remember about an old case is often wrong.

What happens after we file

We file the petition in the county where you were arrested and list every agency that holds a record, and each of them gets notice. The court can’t hold the hearing until at least 30 days after the petition is filed, which gives those agencies time to object. Once the order is final, the agencies have to return or destroy the records, and you can deny the arrest ever happened. Most of ours take a few months start to finish.

At Blass Law, we understand the impact that an arrest can have on your life. When you work with a criminal defense lawyer from our team, we can determine whether a facet of your criminal record is eligible for expungement. From there, we file the petition and make sure every agency on the list actually clears its records. Call (713) 664-4000 and have the county and the year of the arrest handy.

Wondering specifically about a DWI? Start with clearing a DWI from your record in Texas. The rules are different, and better than most people think.