Can an Expunction or Expungement Lawyer Help you Get the Dream Job?

Can an Expunction or Expungement Lawyer Help you Get the Dream Job?

Getting that dream job can be one of the most satisfying moments in a person’s life. It may be the culmination of years of study or training and could steer you toward the life you imagined for yourself. Competition for a job like that is likely to be stiff even in the worst economic times. Those people probably see the opportunity much as you do. The job market is tightening again. Making sure you are as attractive as possible as a job applicant is essential.

Employers often have to sort through applicants for highly sought-after positions. They are looking to shorten their list of candidates. Eliminating applicants with criminal records is an easy way to do so. Having a clean criminal record is a huge factor for most employers.  This applies whether you are competing for a dream job or any job you can get.

Some jobs are impossible to get with a criminal record, such as those with legal requirements for a clean record. Others may be legally possible, but an employer’s insurance company may not offer coverage to companies that hire people with criminal records. An employer may also judge you according to their standards and values. Those values are sometimes strict and unforgiving. Regardless of the employer’s reason, you are in the same undesirable situation: not getting the job.

Unstack The Deck Against You

Getting that arrest off your record could make all the difference. You could get the job and career path you’ve always wanted or take another “go nowhere” job you hate.

Expunction could be your ticket to the life you want. People may call this expungement, but it means the same thing.  An expunction attorney/expungement attorney gathers information and documents related to your criminal case, drafts various paperwork for filing with the right court, and shepherds it through the legal system. Ideally, the judge grants the expunction/expungement. The order requires a record keeper, such as the Department of Public Safety, to destroy or erase their criminal records of the event.

Expunction/expungement cannot end the possibility of a record of your case existing. It is, however, the best legal tool available to clean your record.

Eligibility Determines Possible Relief

The first order of business, however, is to determine eligibility.  This discussion is for cases involving something other than a Class C misdemeanor, which is a crime punishable by a fine only, not a jail sentence.  This case includes traffic tickets and public intoxication, among many other charges.

If you were convicted of an offense greater than a Class C misdemeanor, you would seldom become eligible for expunction. In such situations, you may need to be pardoned by the governor, which is astronomically unlikely. Former governor Rick Perry granted clemency to less than a few hundred people, less than half of which were full pardons. The current governor is not much different in this regard. By comparison, in 2019 and 2020, over 1.5 MILLION serious crimes were reported in Texas.

If you were ordered by a court to serve a “deferred adjudication” probation, you would not be eligible for expunction/expungement.  However, you may be eligible for legal relief through a nondisclosure. Nondisclosure can occur after a deferred adjudication probation is completed.  Upon successful completion, you must wait years to apply for a nondisclosure: five years for a felony and two years for a misdemeanor.

You May Have To Wait To File, But Start Checking Now

For those eligible for expunction, a waiting period, such as a statute of limitations, may still apply.  A statute of limitations refers to the calendar time the state is allowed to charge you for a particular crime; failure by the state to charge you during that time bars the state from ever filing the charge against you. Special statutes may set an exceptional amount of time, but the terms of the general limitation are two years for misdemeanors and three years for felonies.

Eligibility for expunction on a particular charge depends upon the outcome of a charge but also hinges on whether you have other criminal cases.  Don’t hesitate to contact us to review whether you are eligible for expunction/expungement.  Contacting us may be one of the most significant calls of your lifetime.

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