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J. Michael Price II
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Dallas criminal lawyer J. Michael Price II and his criminal defense support team have successfully defended a vast assortment of criminal matters, including drunk driving, possession of drugs and other controlled substances, narcotics sales, theft, white collar fraud, conspiracy, computer crimes and sex offenses. READ MORE
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New Texas law allows you to remove a First Offense DWI from your criminal record! Contact Dallas DWI Attorney J. Michael Price II today to see if you qualify.

A criminal conviction on your record will have negative impacts on many different aspects of your life. This new Texas law may give you the chance to turn all of this around. Contact J. Michael Price II today and schedule your no-cost case evaluation.

DWI Removal Now!

Get your DWI removed under New Second Chance Law in Texas and Have It Cleared from Your Criminal Background!

Having a criminal record can be life changing. It affects almost all aspects of a person’s life: employment, housing, financial matters, and relationships. This legislative session, Texas law makers gave new hope to a large group of first time offenders. In passing this new law, Texas now allows some first time offenders, even those arrested and convicted for DWI, to have their arrest and court records sealed and erased from public view.  This means persons with convictions, even DWI convictions, can have their records non-disclosed.

How do I get non-disclosure treatment for my DWI conviction?

Anyone who has been arrested has a criminal record, even if they have received “deferred adjudication” probation. Many lawyers and even some Judges will wrongly inform defendants that the “will not have a record” after completion of a deferred probation. Persons that have DWI convictions and probations have never been able to have them removed from their records.  They were stuck with the arrest and conviction for forever.   This is not true anymore. Texas law allows for the ‘non-disclosure’ or “sealing” and “removal” of a person’s public arrest and court records if they have successfully completed a DWI first offense probation or if they completed a first offense jail sentence. This is not automatic. A petition has to be filed and a Judge has to enter an “Order of Non-Disclosure” that removes your record and allows you to publicly deny that you were ever arrested, charged, or placed on probation for that offense.

How were non-disclosures handled in the past?

For most misdemeanors, a person may file a petition for an order of nondisclosure immediately after discharge from deferred probation and dismissal of the offense. However, some misdemeanors require a defendant to wait two years from the date of the discharge and dismissal of the misdemeanor offense.

During this two-year period, the applicant must not have received anything more than a citation for a fine-only traffic offense.

For most felony offenses, the applicant must wait five years from the date of the discharge and dismissal of the felony offense.

Even if a defendant has successfully completed a deferred adjudication probation, he or she is not eligible for an order of nondisclosure if he or she has ever been convicted or placed on deferred adjudication for certain offenses, including murder and aggravated kidnapping, if he or she is a registered sex offender, or if he or she has violated a protective order.

Now, with the passing of the new Texas second chance law, a DWI is eligible for nondisclosure. The law prior to now did not allow for non disclosure of DWI offenses under any scenario. A DWI conviction has always been on someone’s “permanent record.”

What is HB 3016?

This new law, passed by the Texas legislature and signed into law effective September 1, 2017, amends and greatly expands the right of persons to obtain Orders of Non-Disclosure even for convictions, not just deferred probations, of certain misdemeanors, including DWI’s. After certain waiting periods, HB 3016 will allow a person to petition for an order of nondisclosure of their criminal history if that person was previously ineligible to receive one. This is so if the person had a conviction for a fine only Class C Misdemeanor or for other convictions that were not previously allowed under the former law.

See the full text of HB 3016 as passed and signed into law.

What does HB 3016 mean for DWI Arrests and DWI Convictions?

HB 3016 now allows certain persons convicted of a first time Driving While Intoxicated charge, if certain criteria are met, to be eligible to petition for a non-disclosure of a Texas DWI. This will effectively seal a DWI from someone’s record that was previously available for the world to see with a click of a mouse!

Am I Eligible for DWI non-disclosure?

If you have received probation for a first offense DWI, your petition to have a DWI sealed will be granted only if:

  • You have never been convicted or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision (probation) for another offense—this does not include a traffic offense (punishable by fine only);
  • Have successfully completed any imposed community supervision and any term of confinement;
  • Have paid all fines, costs, and restitution imposed; and
  • The waiting period has elapsed, which is:
    • 2 years if you successfully completed a period of at least six months of driving with an ignition interlock device as a part of the sentence; or
    • 5 years if there was no interlock requirement as part of the sentence.

A person is not eligible for sealing/non-disclosure of their DWI conviction if:

  • The underlying offense, for which the order is sought, resulted in a motor vehicle accident involving injury to another person (this includes a passenger of the defendant), or
  • A breath or blood test in the underlying case was a 0.15 or greater and this was proven at trial or admitted to during a plea,

or

  • The DWI was a 2nd of 3rd

If you have received a jail sentence or ‘time served’ for a first offense DWI, all of the same requirements above must be met, except that the waiting period is 3 years from the date of completion of any sentence if an ignition interlock was required as a condition of any sentence for a minimum of 6 months. Otherwise, the waiting period is 5 years.

With the possibility that your case may be sealed and removed from public records, the time is now to contact Attorney J. Michael Price II.

As a board certified criminal law specialist by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Attorney J. Michael Price II is here to help you determine whether you may be eligible for a non-disclosure under the new Texas law when it takes effect on September 1, 2017. We give you a no-cost case evaluation to see if you are eligible to take advantage of this new law.   Email Mike now to let him review your case to see if you are eligible to take advantage of this sweeping new law.