| MOTION
FOR NON-DISCLOSURE
A person who has successfully
completed a deferred adjudication probation may be
able to obtain an order of nondisclosure from the court.
This order prevents government agencies from publicly
disclosing criminal history information resulting from
the offense. The criminal offense will determine whether
a person is entitled to an order of nondisclosure and,
if so, when such an order can be obtained.
For most misdemeanors, a person may file a petition
for an order of nondisclosure immediately after the
discharge from probation and dismissal of the offense.
However, some misdemeanors require a defendant to wait
five years from the date of the discharge and dismissal
of the misdemeanor offense. Those offenses include:
unlawful restraint, public lewdness, indecent exposure,
assault, deadly conduct, terroristic threat, disorderly
conduct, harassment, unlawful carrying of a firearm,
obstructing highway or other passageway, interference
with emergency telephone call, stalking, and bigamy.
During this five year period, the applicant must not
have received anything more than a citation for a fine-only
traffic offense.
For most felony offenses, the applicant must wait
ten years from the date of the discharge and dismissal
of the felony offense.
Not all defendants who successfully complete a deferred
adjudication probation are entitled to an order of
nondisclosure. A person is not eligible if he/she has
ever been convicted or placed on deferred adjudication
for: an offense requiring registration as a sex offender,
aggravated kidnapping, murder, capital murder, injury
to a child/elderly/disabled individual, abandoning
or endangering a child, violations of a protective
order or magistrate's order, or any offense involving
family violence.
Obtaining an order of nondisclosure is very advantageous.
A person who receives an order of nondisclosure my
deny having been arrested or prosecuted for the offense,
unless the information is being used against the person
in a subsequent criminal proceeding. However, an order
of nondisclosure does not require the government to
destroy the information. The information may be released
to criminal justice agencies, non-criminal justice
agencies authorized by statute or executive order to
receive criminal history record information, and the
person who is the subject of the criminal history information.
Private entities that compile and disseminate for
compensation criminal history record information may
not do so with respect to which an order of nondisclosure
has been issued. A district court may issue a warning
to a private entity for a first violation, but faces
a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for each subsequent
violation. The Attorney General or prosecutor may sue
to collect.
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