• Tell employers that you have not been convicted of a crime
• Become eligible for student loans
• Become eligible for housing assistance
• Become eligible for more types of professional licenses and certificates
• Tell friends and family that you have not been convicted of a crime
• To stop fearing or being embarrassed when someone does a background check on you.

Even if you were convicted of a crime you may have your record sealed if:

• You did not receive a determination sentence in a juvenile penitentiary.
• You are not currently registered as a sex offender.
• You were not tried as an adult.
• There are no pending proceedings.
• Since your discharge you have not been convicted of a felony, a misdemeanor of moral turpitude, or been adjudicated of delinquent conduct.
• It has been two years since you were discharged. If there was no adjudication, the two year waiting period is waived and you can seal your record immediately.

§ 58.003. Sealing of Records

(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (c), on the application of a person who has been
found to have engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision, or a
person taken into custody to determine whether the person engaged in delinquent conduct or
conduct indicating a need for supervision, on the juvenile court’s own motion the court shall
order the sealing of the records in the case if the court finds that:
(1) two years have elapsed since final discharge of the person or since the last official action in
the person’s case if there was no adjudication; and
(2) since the time specified in Subdivision (1), the person has not been convicted of a felony or a
misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or found to have engaged in delinquent conduct or
conduct indicating a need for supervision and no proceeding is pending seeking conviction or
adjudication.

(b) A court may not order the sealing of the records of a person who has received a determinate
sentence for engaging in delinquent conduct that violated a penal law listed in Section 53.045 or
engaging in habitual felony conduct as described by Section 51.031.

(c) Subject to Subsection (b), a court may order the sealing of records concerning a person
adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct that violated a penal law of the grade of
felony only if:

(1) the person is 21 years of age or older;

(2) the person was not transferred by a juvenile court under Section 54.02 to a criminal
court for prosecution;

(3) the records have not been used as evidence in the punishment phase of a criminal
proceeding under Section 3(a), Article 37.07, Code of Criminal Procedure; and

(4) the person has not been convicted of a penal law of the grade of felony after
becoming age 17.

(d) The court may grant the relief authorized in Subsection (a) at any time after final discharge
of the person or after the last official action in the case if there was no adjudication. If the child
is referred to the juvenile court for conduct constituting any offense and at the adjudication
hearing the child is found to be not guilty of each offense alleged, the court shall immediately
order the sealing of all files and records relating to the case.

(e) Reasonable notice of the hearing shall be given to:

(1) the person who made the application or who is the subject of the records named in the
motion;

(2) the prosecuting attorney for the juvenile court;

(3) the authority granting the discharge if the final discharge was from an institution or
from parole;

(4) the public or private agency or institution having custody of records named in the
application or motion; and

(5) the law enforcement agency having custody of files or records named in the
application or motion.

(f) A copy of the sealing order shall be sent to each agency or official named in the order.

(g) On entry of the order:

(1) all law enforcement, prosecuting attorney, clerk of court, and juvenile court records ordered
sealed shall be sent before the 61st day after the date the order is received to the court issuing
the order;

(2) all records of a public or private agency or institution ordered sealed shall be sent before
the 61st day after the date the order is received to the court issuing the order;

(3) all index references to the records ordered sealed shall be deleted before the 61st day after
the date the order is received, and verification of the deletion shall be sent before the 61st day
after the date of the deletion to the court issuing the order;

(4) the juvenile court, clerk of court, prosecuting attorney, public or private agency or
institution, and law enforcement officers and agencies shall properly reply that no record exists
with respect to the person on inquiry in any matter; and

(5) the adjudication shall be vacated and the proceeding dismissed and treated for all purposes
other than a subsequent capital prosecution, including the purpose of showing a prior finding
of delinquent conduct, as if it had never occurred.

(G-1) ANY RECORDS COLLECTED OR MAINTAINED BY THE TEXAS JUVENILE
PROBATION COMMISSION, INCLUDING STATISTICAL DATA SUBMITTED UNDER
SECTION 141.044, HUMAN RESOURCES CODE, ARE NOT SUBJECT TO A SEALING
ORDER ISSUED UNDER THIS SECTION.

(h) Inspection of the sealed records may be permitted by an order of the juvenile court on the
petition of the person who is the subject of the records and only by those persons named in the
order.

(i) On the final discharge of a child or on the last official action in the case if there is no
adjudication, the child shall be given a written explanation of the child’s rights under this section
and a copy of the provisions of this section.

(j) A person whose records have been sealed under this section is not required in any
proceeding or in any application for employment, information, or licensing to state that the
person has been the subject of a proceeding under this title and any statement that the person has
never been found to be a delinquent child shall never be held against the person in any criminal
or civil proceeding.

(k) A prosecuting attorney may, on application to the juvenile court, reopen at any time the
files and records of a person adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct that violated a
penal law of the grade of felony sealed by the court under this section for the purposes of
Sections 12.42(a)-(c) and (e), Penal Code.

(l) On the motion of a person in whose name records are kept or on the court’s own motion, the
court may order the destruction of records that have been sealed under this section if:

(1) the records relate to conduct that did not violate a penal law of the grade of felony or a
misdemeanor punishable by confinement in jail;

(2) five years have elapsed since the person’s 16th birthday; and

(3) the person has not been convicted of a felony.

(m) On request of the Department of Public Safety, a juvenile court shall reopen and allow the
department to inspect the files and records of the juvenile court relating to an applicant for a
license to carry a concealed handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code.

(n) A record created or maintained under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, may not be
sealed under this section if the person who is the subject of the record has a continuing
obligation to register under that chapter.

(o) An agency or official named in the order that cannot seal the records because THE
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE ORDER UNDER SUBSECTION (P) is incorrect or
insufficient shall notify the court issuing the order before the 61st day after the date the agency
or official receives the order. The court shall notify the person who made the application or who
is the subject of the records named in the motion, or the attorney for that person, before the 61st
day after the date the court receives the notice that the agency or official cannot seal the records
because there is incorrect or insufficient information in the order.

(P) A PERSON WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO SEAL RECORDS MAY FILE AN APPLICATION
FOR THE SEALING OF RECORDS IN A JUVENILE COURT OF THE COUNTY IN WHICH
THE PROCEEDINGS OCCURRED. THE APPLICATION AND SEALING ORDER
ENTERED ON THE APPLICATION MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION
OR AN EXPLANATION FOR WHY ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING IS NOT
INCLUDED:
(1) THE APPLICANT’S:
(A) FULL NAME;
(B) SEX;
(C) RACE OR ETHNICITY;
(D) DATE OF BIRTH;
(E) DRIVER’S LICENSE OR IDENTIFICATION CARD NUMBER; AND
(F) SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER;
(2) THE OFFENSE CHARGED AGAINST THE APPLICANT OR FOR WHICH THE
APPLICANT WAS REFERRED TO THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM;
(3) THE DATE ON WHICH AND THE COUNTY WHERE THE OFFENSE WAS ALLEGED
TO HAVE BEEN COMMITTED; AND
(4) IF A PETITION WAS FILED IN THE JUVENILE COURT, THE CAUSE NUMBER
ASSIGNED TO THE PETITION AND THE COURT AND COUNTY IN WHICH THE
PETITION WAS FILED.