Expunge means to erase, remove or wipe out. When a criminal case is expunged, a judge issues an order that the charges and all related documents to the charge must be destroyed, including arrest records. Any entity that has a copy of the charges must abide by the judge’s order, and you can legally deny that you were ever charged with the crime once the expunction is granted. I am a Fort Worth Defense Attorney, who handles expungement certificates and could help get your record expunged.
Why Get an Expunction Order?
Having a criminal offense on your record can greatly alter how the world, including potential employers and people in charge of issuing loans, perceives you. Having a criminal history makes it much harder to get a job, get student loans, purchase or rent a house or apartment, or even pick your children up from school.
If your case was dismissed, that does not mean the arrest or offense is “off your record.” Any employer or other individual that conducts a background check on you will be able to see that you were charged with a criminal offense. It is part of the public record that anyone can access by searching the public records. Until you get an expungement order from a judge, the charge will always be there.
Once you have an expungement order, the records are destroyed. You don’t have to tell anyone about it if you don’t want to. You can legally deny that the incident ever occurred in most cases.
Generally, a misdemeanor charge can be expunged if you were found to be not guilty, or if the charges were dismissed. Expungement is the only way to have these fully erased from your record for all employment and governmental purposes. Call The Law Office of Paul Previte today at (817) 335-4357 to begin the process of expungement with a Fort Worth defense attorney.
