Q: What is needed to make a case for the expungement of a criminal record?
A: The expunction law and how to petition for an order are spelled out in chapter 55 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. There are several potential paths to expunction, so the process is to prepare a petition that cites the path that fits the facts of your arrest and attach documentation to prove your eligibility. The petition should be filed in the district courts of the same county where the arrest happened... even if there was a resulting criminal case filed in a lower court. Technically, if the case was a class C misdemeanors filed in JP court then it is possible to direct file there, but the resulting expunction is not as widely enforceable as if it had been pursued in district court so it usually doesn't make sense to go through all that effort for a less enforceable order of expunction.
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