What the Judge Doesn"t Tell You About Deferred Adjudication
Many judges in Harris County will tell a defendant that deferred adjudication is the next best thing to a dismissal upon taking their plea.
In some cases that may be true, but in many cases deferred adjudication is the next best thing to a conviction.
Deferred adjudication in Texas is a method of disposing of a criminal case in which a judge accepts a plea of no contest or guilty but defers a finding of guilt until such time as the defendant completes a term of probation.
Should the person complete the probation successfully, the case is dismissed.
However, should the person fail to complete the term of probation, the court will enter a finding of guilt and may sentence the defendant to any punishment up to the maximum for that offense.
For this reason, deferred adjudication is sometimes referred to as deferred prosecution.
Upon a successful completion of probation, the person may be eligible to petition the court for an order of nondisclosure.
This is not the same as expunging a criminal record.
The key term is nondisclosure.
A signed order merely informs the arresting law enforcement agency that they may not disclose any information about the disposition of the case to anyone outside of law enforcement - except for 24 other named entities.
Deferred adjudication may be offered for any criminal charge except any offense listed in Section 49 of the Texas Penal Code - The Texas DWI Statute.
For most misdemeanors disposed of through deferred adjudication, a person may petition the court for an order of nondisclosure upon the completion of his probation.
The judge has the discretion to decide whether to grant the order, deny the order or reconsider the petition at a later time.
For other misdemeanors, including kidnapping, sexual offenses, assault offenses, offenses against the family, disorderly conduct or weapons offenses, the petitioner must wait until the second anniversary of the dismissal before petitioning the court for an order of nondisclosure.
If the plea was to a felony, the petitioner must wait until the fifth anniversary of the dismissal.
Not everyone is eligible for an order of nondisclosure.
If a person has a prior conviction or was placed on deferred adjudication for an offense requiring registration as a sex offender, aggravated kidnapping, murder, child abandonment or endangerment, violating a protective order, stalking or a crime of family violence, that person is not entitled to an order of nondisclosure for any subsequent offense.
And even if the judge signs an order of nondisclosure, certain agencies may still obtain information regarding the case.
Most of the named agencies (Texas Government Code Section 411.
081(i)) are regulatory and licensing agencies as well as school districts, fire departments and safe houses for children.
Thus you may not have that conviction on your record, but the information is still out there.
In some cases that may be true, but in many cases deferred adjudication is the next best thing to a conviction.
Deferred adjudication in Texas is a method of disposing of a criminal case in which a judge accepts a plea of no contest or guilty but defers a finding of guilt until such time as the defendant completes a term of probation.
Should the person complete the probation successfully, the case is dismissed.
However, should the person fail to complete the term of probation, the court will enter a finding of guilt and may sentence the defendant to any punishment up to the maximum for that offense.
For this reason, deferred adjudication is sometimes referred to as deferred prosecution.
Upon a successful completion of probation, the person may be eligible to petition the court for an order of nondisclosure.
This is not the same as expunging a criminal record.
The key term is nondisclosure.
A signed order merely informs the arresting law enforcement agency that they may not disclose any information about the disposition of the case to anyone outside of law enforcement - except for 24 other named entities.
Deferred adjudication may be offered for any criminal charge except any offense listed in Section 49 of the Texas Penal Code - The Texas DWI Statute.
For most misdemeanors disposed of through deferred adjudication, a person may petition the court for an order of nondisclosure upon the completion of his probation.
The judge has the discretion to decide whether to grant the order, deny the order or reconsider the petition at a later time.
For other misdemeanors, including kidnapping, sexual offenses, assault offenses, offenses against the family, disorderly conduct or weapons offenses, the petitioner must wait until the second anniversary of the dismissal before petitioning the court for an order of nondisclosure.
If the plea was to a felony, the petitioner must wait until the fifth anniversary of the dismissal.
Not everyone is eligible for an order of nondisclosure.
If a person has a prior conviction or was placed on deferred adjudication for an offense requiring registration as a sex offender, aggravated kidnapping, murder, child abandonment or endangerment, violating a protective order, stalking or a crime of family violence, that person is not entitled to an order of nondisclosure for any subsequent offense.
And even if the judge signs an order of nondisclosure, certain agencies may still obtain information regarding the case.
Most of the named agencies (Texas Government Code Section 411.
081(i)) are regulatory and licensing agencies as well as school districts, fire departments and safe houses for children.
Thus you may not have that conviction on your record, but the information is still out there.