I always hear about “deferred adjudication,” what is it exactly?

Deferred adjudication is a type of judge-ordered community supervision (more commonly known as probation) that allows a person to accept responsibility for a crime without a conviction being placed on their record. A judge is the only person who can grant deferred adjudication, and a prosecutor and alleged offender will have to agree to waive a jury trial and all appeals.

With deferred adjudication, you will be asked to enter a guilty plea, but that finding of guilt is deferred pending your completion of the term of probation. In some cases, people may be allowed to enter “no contest” pleas.

When a person is placed on deferred adjudication community supervision and receives a discharge and dismissal, they can petition the court for an order of nondisclosure to seal or expunge their criminal record. Certain timelines have to be waited out before filing the petition for an order of nondisclosure.
What is a nondisclosure order?

A nondisclosure order seals part of your criminal record. The order stops public entities, including courts, clerks of the court, law enforcement agencies, and prosecutorial offices, from sharing information about the sealed offense. If you have a nondisclosure order for an offense, you do not have to enter the offense on most job applications.

Please note that a nondisclosure order applies only to a particular criminal offense. The order does not apply to all offenses that may be on your criminal history record. However, you may obtain multiple orders of nondisclosure for multiple offenses.

This law stuff gets confusing, right? Call Saenz & Billhymer Law, PLLC. Our lawyers stand ready to answer all your questions and tell you if you are qualified for an order of nondisclosure. Call today!

Don’t have a criminal attorney’s number saved in your phone? Well, if you are reading this, save this number to your smartphone, 817-927-0199.