Finishing a criminal case doesn’t necessarily keep it out of a
background check. If you have a Harris County record, an order of
nondisclosure may restrict public access to the covered criminal
history. The first question is whether your actual disposition
qualifies—not simply how long ago you were arrested.
The Napier Law Firm represents people seeking criminal-record relief
in Harris County. Talk with us about reviewing your case, identifying
the available route and seeking an order when the law allows it. This is
criminal-record sealing, not a nondisclosure agreement for a business
dispute.
Call (713) 470-4097 to discuss your
Harris County case. If you have your cause number and final court
paperwork, have them available for the consultation.
Start
with your Harris County court—not your current address
A search for a Houston record-sealing attorney may lead you to
lawyers serving several counties. But your home address doesn’t select
the court that can grant relief. The relevant statutory route generally
points back to the court that placed you on supervision or imposed your
sentence.
For a Harris County case, the court name and cause number on your
orders are the starting point. Harris maintains separate resources for
its County Criminal
Courts at Law and its criminal district
courts. The county criminal court directory is not a substitute for
locating an original criminal district court in a felony
deferred-adjudication case.
Those directories help identify the court. They don’t establish that
every court uses the same filing, notice or hearing procedure. A
lawyer’s review should connect the right statute to the right case and
then confirm the applicable court’s requirements. Moving away from
Houston doesn’t, by itself, move that case to a different court.
The paperwork matters because “my case was dismissed” can describe
different outcomes. A dismissal after deferred adjudication is not the
same thing as a dismissal without that disposition. Nor is an order
discharging you from supervision necessarily an order sealing your
criminal history.
What a case review needs
to establish
A useful consultation should go beyond checking the offense name. The
relevant records may include:
- The cause number, original court and charging document.
- The deferred-adjudication order or judgment, including any findings
and supervision conditions. - The discharge and dismissal order, or records showing completion of
the sentence and applicable payment obligations. - Prior and later criminal-history information that could affect
eligibility. - For a relevant DWI route, the court’s ignition-interlock requirement
and evidence of compliance.
If you don’t have every document, identify what you do have and what
is missing. A background-check summary alone may leave out the findings,
dates or disposition that control the answer.
The legal review also needs to separate eligibility from timing. A
waiting period can expire without making an otherwise ineligible case
eligible. Conversely, some qualifying dispositions do not carry the same
waiting period as others. The arrest date is not a reliable substitute
for the trigger specified in the statute.
Texas has more than
one nondisclosure route
Texas
Government Code Chapter 411 treats different dispositions
differently. That is why a generic petition or a promise that every
completed case can be sealed is the wrong starting point.
For certain qualifying nonviolent misdemeanor deferred adjudications,
Section 411.072 provides a court-issued procedure after discharge and
dismissal, subject to the statutory eligibility determination, timing,
necessary evidence and fee. It is not the same petition procedure used
by the other routes. Don’t assume that the end of supervision proves the
court has entered a nondisclosure order.
Other qualifying misdemeanor and felony deferred adjudications may
fall under Section 411.0725. It requires a petition and has different
timing rules depending on the offense. A felony deferred adjudication is
not interchangeable with a felony conviction. Certain misdemeanor
convictions have separate routes under Sections 411.073 and 411.0735;
the sentence, supervision status and completion records matter.
DWI requires its own analysis. Section 411.0726 addresses qualifying
DWI deferred adjudication. Sections 411.0731 and 411.0736 address
different qualifying conviction situations. Interlock requirements and
completion dates cannot be borrowed from one route and applied to
another. Our Texas
DWI nondisclosure article explains those distinctions in more
detail.
Criminal history and findings can change the result. Section 411.074
imposes important restrictions, including those involving family
violence and specified offenses. Specialized provisions can also matter;
a short webpage checklist cannot replace review of the applicable law
and case records. For a broader explanation, read our Texas
criminal-record nondisclosure guide.
What sealing
protects—and what it doesn’t
A nondisclosure order restricts public disclosure of the
criminal-history information it covers. That can be important when an
old case continues to surface. But sealing is not destruction, and the
order does not make every record inaccessible to everyone.
Criminal justice agencies and other recipients specified by law
retain access. The law separately addresses statements on applications,
permitted disclosure and later use of conviction information in criminal
proceedings. Don’t treat those separate rules as a promise that an order
guarantees a job, a professional license or a particular answer on every
federal or other specialized application.
There is also a post-order process for distributing the order and
sealing records. An entered order is not a promise that every database
will change immediately.
Nondisclosure and expunction are different remedies with different
eligibility rules. If your goal is record relief, the review should
determine which remedy, if either, fits the disposition. See our expunction-versus-nondisclosure
comparison and Harris
County expunction page rather than assuming the two services are
interchangeable.
A
Harris County resource for eligible low-income applicants
Harris County’s Fresh Start
program FAQ describes a record-screening and sealing program for
eligible low-income people with Harris County criminal records. The
program has registration, participation and eligibility requirements.
Screening or registration is not a guarantee of relief or an available
place.
Fresh Start is a separate county program, not a Napier Law Firm
service. Its official page is the place to check current participation
information. If you are comparing that resource with hiring private
counsel, the key questions remain your eligibility, the records involved
and the assistance you need—not a promise that either path produces a
particular outcome.
Discuss
your Harris County record with The Napier Law Firm
You shouldn’t have to guess whether “dismissed,” “probation
completed” or “case closed” means your record is protected. Those labels
need to be checked against the actual orders.
The Napier Law Firm serves Harris County clients seeking record
relief. George A. Napier is a former prosecutor whose practice focuses
on criminal defense. A consultation can address whether nondisclosure is
a potential option, what documentation needs review and what
representation would involve. Attorney fees and court costs should be
discussed for the particular matter; no single price is quoted here.
Call (713) 470-4097 to discuss
representation. You can also read about our Texas
nondisclosure services before the consultation.
This page provides general information, not legal advice. Reading it
or contacting the firm does not by itself create an attorney-client
relationship. Eligibility and results depend on the facts and applicable
law.