Many people confuse deferred adjudication and deferred disposition.
There’s a lot of confusion about the terms “deferred disposition” and “deferred adjudication” in Texas.
Deferred adjudication is a probation that applies to Class B misdemeanor or higher charges. Essentially the defendant admits to committing a crime but the judge withholds a finding of guilt. As long as the defendant completes the conditions of probation the court never finds that defendant guilty. Deferred Adjudication can still be seen by anyone who does a background check. They will see that the defendant plead guilty and was placed on deferred adjudication.
If the person finishes deferred adjudication probation successfully, they can apply for an order of non-disclosure. This is not an expunction. An expunction, is where someone can totally destroy any record of them having been arrested. In fact, after someone receives an expunction, the government will not even know they had been arrested.
The order of non-disclosure prohibits the government from releasing their records to someone who is a non-governmental entity. The problem is that many data collection agencies may already have that persons information in their data base. The person then has to submit a copy of the order of non-disclosure to these data bases and ask them to destroy their records.
Many people refer to deferred adjudication on a class c misdemeanor. Deferred disposition is only for Class C charges and is not a formal reporting probation. Generally the way it works is that the case is reset for a period of time normally 90 days and if the defendant stays out of trouble and pays a special expense the case is dismissed.
After the dismissal, the defendant can apply for an expunction. But they must wait 2 years from the date of offense. This is because the Supreme court of Texas has ruled that in order for a person to pursue an expunction after a case has been dismissed, they must wait for the statute of limitations to run out. The statute of limitations on a class c misdemeanor is generally 2 years.
Most of the cases where the state might agree to a class disposition special expense are low quanity marijuana cases or theft cases where the amount stolen was close to $50.
David Breston is a Houston probation defense attorney. If you need help with a Harris County Motion to Revoke Probation, call David Breston at 713 224 4040.
