Accepted Through These Legal Plans & Referral Networks
Seal a deferred adjudication or other eligible record from public view. Flat fee, all 254 counties.
An order of nondisclosure seals a criminal record from public view. It is the remedy Texas law provides when a case ended in a way that rules out expunction, most often a completed deferred adjudication. Once the order is signed, courts and criminal justice agencies may not release the record to the public, and it stops appearing on routine private background checks for jobs and housing.
Expunction360 is a Texas law firm that handles nondisclosure petitions in all 254 counties on a flat fee. Your attorney reviews eligibility, drafts and files the petition, and represents you at the hearing if the court sets one.
Not sure which remedy fits your case? The expunction vs. nondisclosure comparison explains the difference, and the eligibility check is free.
Eligibility is set by Texas Government Code §§ 411.072–411.0765. It turns on the offense, how the case ended, and whether any waiting period has run.
The most common path. If you finished deferred adjudication and the case was dismissed, you can usually petition under § 411.0725. Most misdemeanors have no waiting period; certain misdemeanors wait two years; felonies wait five.
For qualifying first-time misdemeanor deferred adjudications, § 411.072 calls for the court to issue the order without a petition. In practice some of these are never processed. We check whether yours was, and fix it if not.
Some misdemeanor convictions can be sealed, including a first DWI in limited circumstances. The rules are narrow and the waiting periods differ. See the DWI guide for that path.
Section 411.074 bars offenses that require sex offender registration, family-violence offenses, aggravated kidnapping, murder, injury to a child and several others.
A new conviction or deferred adjudication during the waiting period, other than a fine-only traffic offense, generally ends eligibility.
For petition-based nondisclosure the judge must also find that sealing the record is in the best interest of justice. A well-prepared petition addresses that directly.
It removes the case from routine background checks. Private employers, landlords and lenders who buy ordinary background reports should no longer see the sealed offense.
It lets you leave the case off most applications. Under Government Code § 411.0755, a person whose record is sealed is not required to state on an application for employment, information or licensing that they were the subject of the sealed criminal proceeding.
It does not destroy the record. Law enforcement, prosecutors, DPS and the FBI keep access. So do the licensing and oversight agencies listed in § 411.0765, such as the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Medical Board, the Board of Nursing and the State Bar of Texas. If you plan to apply to one of them, read professional licenses and nondisclosed records first.
It does not restore firearm rights on its own. See restoring gun rights after a Texas arrest.
We review the offense, the outcome and the dates to confirm which section of Chapter 411 applies and whether the waiting period has run. If you do not qualify, you pay nothing.
Your attorney drafts the petition and proposed order and files them in the court that handled the original case.
Once the judge signs, the clerk sends the order to DPS, which notifies the agencies and private data vendors that received the record. Your attorney represents you if the court sets a hearing.
Flat fee: $1,395 (Saver) or $2,000 (Expedited), plus the court filing fee. See pricing and the full process.
An order of nondisclosure is a court order under Texas Government Code Chapter 411 that seals a criminal record from public view. Courts and criminal justice agencies may not release the sealed information to the public, so it stops appearing on routine private background checks. The record is not destroyed, and law enforcement and certain licensing agencies can still see it.
An expunction under Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 55A orders agencies to destroy the record. A nondisclosure seals it instead. You cannot choose between them: which one applies depends on how the case ended. Dismissals, acquittals and no-bills usually point to expunction; completed deferred adjudication usually points to nondisclosure.
Law enforcement, prosecutors, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the FBI keep access. So do the agencies listed in Government Code § 411.0765, including the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Medical Board, the Board of Nursing, the State Bar of Texas and other licensing bodies. Private employers and landlords running ordinary background checks do not.
It depends on the offense. Most misdemeanor deferred adjudications have no waiting period after successful completion. Certain misdemeanors, such as assault and weapons offenses, carry a two-year wait, and felony deferred adjudications carry a five-year wait. Some first-time misdemeanor deferred adjudications are sealed automatically under § 411.072.
Government Code § 411.074 bars nondisclosure for offenses that require sex offender registration, offenses involving family violence, aggravated kidnapping, murder, injury to a child and several others. A person who has ever been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for one of those offenses is also barred from sealing other cases.
Expunction360 charges the same flat fee for a nondisclosure as for an expunction: $1,395 (Saver) or $2,000 (Expedited), plus the court filing fee. The eligibility check is free.
Take the first step today. A free, 10-minute eligibility check could be the beginning of a completely different life.