Asked 8/18/2016 – Houston, TX

I was arrested for a class B misdemeanor that I took 12 months deferred probation for. After a couple months, I was no longer in the position to make payments or make it out to the appointments/classes. So I stopped going and a motion to revoke was set & warrant put out. About a year went by and they never picked me up on my warrant because I wasn’t pulled over or arrested for anything else. Then the state motioned for a withdraw of the motion to revoke due to it being an old case and probation being expired. Then public records show that I was “discharged from probation”. My status still says deferred. Does this mean I won’t be able to have it sealed and my record will say deferred forever? What can be done now?

Answer

If you had successfully completed all the terms and conditions of probation, the probation would have been successfully discharged, the case would have been dismissed and you would have been eligible to file a petition for non-disclosure, concealing this matter from public view. I cannot say for certain because I do not have the documents in front of me, but it appears the Court cleared your case out due to its age. There may not be a warrant out for your arrest, and you no longer have any obligations toward probation, but you are not eligible for a non-disclosure. Contact the attorney who represented you on your original plea to make sure of the exact status of your case.