Order of Nondisclosure: seal an eligible record from most public view.

What sealing does

Under Texas Government Code Chapter 411, an order of nondisclosure prohibits criminal justice agencies from disclosing to the public the criminal history record information it covers, and the court seals its own records of the case. The record still exists: law enforcement and certain statutorily authorized agencies and licensing entities may retain access to sealed records for the purposes the statutes allow. Once an order is in place you are not required, in an application for employment, information, or licensing, to state that you have been the subject of the criminal proceeding it covers.

How it differs from expunction

An expunction removes eligible records and generally lets you deny the arrest; it is available for arrests that did not end in a conviction or supervision. Nondisclosure is the remedy for many cases that did end in deferred adjudication or a conviction — the record stays, but ordinary public disclosure stops. The two remedies also follow different filing rules, described below.

The pathways

Deferred adjudication — misdemeanors

Successfully completed deferred adjudication is the most common path. For many nonviolent misdemeanors, the court that placed you on deferred adjudication issues the order without a separate petition once you are discharged and the statutory conditions are met (there is a small clerk's fee), provided you had never before been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for another offense beyond fine-only traffic offenses. Other misdemeanor deferreds proceed by petition: immediately after discharge for most offenses, or two years after discharge for misdemeanors under Penal Code Chapters 20, 21, 22, 25, 42, 43, or 46 (offenses against the person, family, and public order, and weapons offenses, among others).

Deferred adjudication — felonies

A completed felony deferred adjudication can be sealed by petition five years after discharge and dismissal, subject to the same required conditions and statutory bars that apply across the chapter.

Misdemeanor convictions

Narrower paths exist for some misdemeanor convictions, whether the sentence was served on community supervision or straight time. They require that you completed the sentence, that you satisfy the general conditions, and that you have never been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for another offense beyond fine-only traffic offenses; on the straight-sentence path a court may also refuse an order where it finds the offense was violent or sexual in nature. The wait is generally two years after completion for jailable misdemeanors — and after completion for fine-only misdemeanors or, on the community-supervision path, for misdemeanors outside the listed Penal Code chapters. Convictions for DWI-type offenses, driving under the influence by a minor, and organized-crime offenses are outside these general misdemeanor paths.

DWI — a special statutory framework

First-offense DWI has its own nondisclosure sections. A misdemeanor DWI or boating-while-intoxicated deferred adjudication can be sealed two years after discharge; a DWI conviction served on community supervision can be sealed two years after completion if the sentence included at least six months of ignition-interlock restriction and otherwise after five years; a DWI conviction served without community supervision can be sealed three years after completion with at least six months of interlock compliance and otherwise after five years. All three require that you have never been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for another offense beyond fine-only traffic offenses, and none is available if the state shows the offense involved a motor-vehicle collision with another person. DWI with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more and DWI with a child passenger fall outside these provisions.

Conditions and bars that apply across the pathways

• A clean record during and after the case. From sentencing or placement on supervision through any applicable waiting period, you must not have been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for anything other than a fine-only traffic offense.
• Family-violence exclusion. No order may issue if the court finds the offense involved family violence, and a prior conviction or deferred adjudication for a family-violence offense bars nondisclosure of anything else.
• Serious-offense bars. A person who was ever convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for an offense requiring sex-offender registration, aggravated kidnapping, murder or capital murder, human trafficking, injury to a child or elderly or disabled person, abandoning or endangering a child, violation of a protective order, or stalking is not eligible for an order — for that offense or any other.
• Prior-record issues. Several pathways additionally require that you have never been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for another offense (fine-only traffic offenses aside). A single old case elsewhere on your record can move you from one pathway to another, or out of eligibility.

Why the exact charge, statute, and dates matter

The controlling facts are the exact statute of the final charge, the final disposition, the completion and discharge dates, the applicable waiting period, and your record history — each read from the court records rather than from memory. Whether a misdemeanor deferred is eligible immediately or after two years turns on the Penal Code chapter of the offense; whether a DWI qualifies turns on the sentence, the interlock, and the blood-alcohol result recorded in the case. That's exactly what our verification step checks before an attorney confirms an answer.

Where a nondisclosure petition is filed

Orders of nondisclosure follow different filing rules from expunctions and are handled through the court connected to the underlying case. Under Government Code Chapter 411, the petition goes to the court that placed you on deferred adjudication or community supervision, or the court that imposed the sentence, depending on which nondisclosure provision applies to your case. That means the expunction rule — the county of arrest or of the alleged offense — does not carry over to sealing. We confirm the proper filing court and the applicable provision during records review.

What sealing hides — and who can still see it

Ordinary public access is what most background checks rely on, and that is what an order restricts. But sealed information may still be disclosed to other criminal justice agencies, for criminal justice or regulatory licensing purposes, to you, and to a specific list of agencies and entities named in the statute — among them the State Board for Educator Certification, school districts and other education entities, the Texas Medical Board and Board of Nursing, the Board of Law Examiners and State Bar, the Department of Family and Protective Services, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, certain financial-regulatory and licensing bodies, hospitals, and fire departments. If your work or licensing touches one of those areas, sealing may not keep the record from that reviewer.

The process

1. Free check — the screener asks about the disposition, the offense, the dates, and the rest of your record.
2. Records verification — a paralegal confirms the exact statute, disposition, discharge date, and any affirmative findings from the court's records.
3. Attorney approval — Joshua Andor confirms the pathway and the earliest date you can file.
4. Petition — filed with the court connected to the underlying case, with the required fee; the state receives notice and may request a hearing within 45 days, and the court then decides whether you are entitled to the order and whether it is in the best interest of justice.
5. Order — within 15 business days the clerk sends the order to the Department of Public Safety, which seals its own records and forwards the order to law enforcement agencies, courts, prosecutors, other state and local entities, federal depositories, and the private entities that purchase its criminal-history data; those entities then seal their records, and the court seals its own file.

Cost and service area

The $1,250 flat attorney fee covers one standard nondisclosure matter in Collin or Denton County — record review, attorney approval, the petition and proposed order, filing, ordinary case management, and a standard hearing if one is required — paid $625 at engagement and $625 before filing, with court filing fees separate.

Common questions

Does an order of nondisclosure make the record disappear?

No. The record remains in government systems. Ordinary public disclosure is prohibited, and you generally need not disclose the case on employment, information, or licensing applications, but law enforcement and the agencies listed in the statute retain access.

I finished deferred adjudication. Do I have to wait?

It depends on the offense. Many misdemeanor deferreds are eligible at discharge; misdemeanors under certain Penal Code chapters wait two years; felony deferreds wait five years. DWI deferreds follow their own two-year rule.

Can a misdemeanor conviction be sealed?

Some can — after the sentence is completed, generally with a two-year wait for jailable misdemeanors, and only if you have never been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for another offense beyond fine-only traffic offenses. DWI-type, minor-DUI, and organized-crime convictions are outside the general misdemeanor paths (first DWI has its own rules).

Can a first DWI be sealed?

Sometimes. The DWI sections require no other convictions or deferreds, no collision involving another person, and a waiting period that depends on the sentence and any ignition-interlock condition. A blood-alcohol result of 0.15 or more or a child passenger takes the case outside those sections.

What if I have a family-violence case on my record?

A conviction or deferred adjudication for an offense involving family violence bars an order of nondisclosure — for that case and for any other case. Some dismissed or acquitted family-violence charges may instead be candidates for expunction.

Which court do I file in?

The court that handled the underlying case — the one that placed you on deferred adjudication or community supervision, or that sentenced you. That is different from the expunction rule.