Expungement Petition - Preparation Worksheet - Texas

Texas Verified Petition for Expunction Preparation Template

No statewide OCA expunction petition is listed on the Texas Judicial Branch
forms page as of this verification date.

Check the district clerk, justice court, or municipal court of record for any
required local form and proposed order. The statewide OCA forms page separately
publishes model forms for orders of nondisclosure; nondisclosure is not the same
relief as Chapter 55A expunction.

IN THE [DISTRICT / JUSTICE / MUNICIPAL COURT OF RECORD]

[COURT NUMBER], [COUNTY] COUNTY, TEXAS

CAUSE NO. [________________]

Verified Petition for Expunction

Petitioner [FULL LEGAL NAME] files this verified petition under Chapter 55A,
Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, and states:

1. Court and venue

☐ Petitioner files in a district court for the county where Petitioner was arrested
or where the offense was alleged to have occurred under Article 55A.251.

☐ The arrest was for a fine-only offense, and Petitioner files in a justice court or
municipal court of record in the county where Petitioner was arrested or where the
offense was alleged to have occurred under Article 55A.252.

Venue facts: [____________________________________________________________]

2. Statutory entitlement or eligibility

Select and analyze one current Chapter 55A route.

☐ Trial-court acquittal — Articles 55A.002 and 55A.151. Petitioner was tried
and acquitted, and the criminal-episode prohibition does not apply.

☐ Pardon or actual-innocence relief — Article 55A.003 or 55A.004.

☐ Pre-September 1, 2021 unlawful-carrying conviction — Article 55A.005.

☐ Mistaken identity — Article 55A.006.

☐ No indictment or information presented — Articles 55A.051 and 55A.052.
Petitioner satisfies the Subchapter B threshold and either:

• 180 days have passed after a Class C misdemeanor arrest with no felony charge
  arising from the same transaction;

• one year has passed after a Class B or A misdemeanor arrest with no felony charge
  arising from the same transaction;

• three years have passed after a felony arrest or an arrest transaction involving a
  felony charge; or

• the attorney representing the State has issued the certification described by
  Article 55A.052(a)(4).

☐ Indictment or information dismissed or quashed — Articles 55A.051 and
55A.053. The dismissal or quashing rests on one of the specific grounds in Article
55A.053(a)(2), and any required affidavit for a veterans-treatment-court or
mental-health-court route is attached.

☐ Limitations period expired — Articles 55A.051 and 55A.054.

☐ Discretionary expunction — Article 55A.101. The appellate-acquittal or
pretrial prosecutor-recommendation requirements are satisfied.

Detailed eligibility facts and cited route:

[____________________________________________________________]

[____________________________________________________________]

For a Subchapter B route, confirm all three threshold facts in Article 55A.051:
release from arrest; no final conviction and no pending charge; and no court-ordered
community supervision for the offense other than for a Class C misdemeanor.

3. Prohibition screen

☐ Article 55A.151 does not bar relief because of a conviction or possible
prosecution for another offense in the same criminal episode.

☐ The petition does not seek expunction of driver-license suspension or revocation
records outside the exceptions identified in Article 55A.152.

☐ The arrest was not made under an Article 42A.751(b) community-supervision
violation warrant. See Article 55A.153.

☐ Article 55A.154 does not bar the selected Article 55A.052 or 55A.054 route because
of intentional or knowing absconding after release.

4. Information required by Article 55A.253(a)

If an item is unavailable, explain why it is not included.

Explanation for omitted required information: [____________________________]

5. Officials, agencies, and entities

List each recipient believed to hold a record or file subject to expunction, with the
applicable physical and e-mail address.

Article 55A.253(a)(8) covers:

• state and local law-enforcement agencies, jails and detention facilities,
  magistrates, courts, prosecutors, correctional facilities, criminal-record
  depositories, and other state or local officials, agencies, and entities;

• central federal criminal-record depositories; and

• private entities that compile and disseminate criminal-history information for
  compensation.

Do not list a state or local agency more than once and do not list separate contacts
or addresses for different divisions of the same state or local agency. The district
clerk's online agency list may assist, but Article 55A.253(c) states that the clerk is
not responsible for its completeness or for the petition's completeness.

6. Hearing and clerk transmission

Under Article 55A.254, the court sets the hearing no earlier than the 30th day after
filing. The clerk sends the petition and notice to listed recipients, other than
central federal depositories, by certified mail or authorized electronic
transmission.

A state or local agency with an e-mail address identified in the petition must accept
electronic transmission. The clerk may not charge a transmission fee when an
electronic address or means is provided. The clerk must charge $25 for each listed
recipient unable to receive electronic transmission. Article 55A.254 does not
require the clerk to send the petition or hearing notice to the Office of Court
Administration; DPS notifies the listed central federal depositories.

Confirm all other filing costs and local procedures directly with the clerk. S.B.
1667 repealed former Article 102.006 for expunction orders entered on or after
September 1, 2025.

7. Requested relief

Petitioner requests that the Court:

1. find Petitioner entitled to expunction under Article [________];

2. enter an order under Article 55A.255 directing expunction of the records and
   files identified in the petition and proposed order; and

3. grant the other relief required by Chapter 55A.

8. Verification

STATE OF [STATE]

COUNTY OF [COUNTY]

Before me, the undersigned notary, personally appeared [PETITIONER FULL LEGAL
NAME], who, after being duly sworn, stated that Petitioner has read this petition
and that its factual statements are within Petitioner's personal knowledge and are
true and correct.

Petitioner's signature: [________________________________]

Subscribed and sworn before me on [__/__/____].

Notary Public signature: [________________________________]

Commission expires: [__/__/____]

9. Proposed-order review

Before filing, confirm that the proposed order identifies the person, charge, arrest
date, case and court information, incident number if available, and every official,
agency, or entity that must receive the final order. Review Articles 55A.301,
55A.302, 55A.3025, and 55A.351-55A.357 for required retention, transmission, and
record-disposition provisions.

10. Effect of a final order

Article 55A.401 prohibits release, maintenance, dissemination, or use of expunged
records and files. Except when questioned under oath in a criminal proceeding, the
person may deny the arrest and the expunction order. When questioned under oath in a
criminal proceeding, the person may state only that the matter was expunged.

Official Sources

• Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 55A
• S.B. 1667 enrolled text
• Texas Judicial Branch forms
• Texas Judicial Branch nondisclosure forms