first time DWI offenses may now be “Deferred”

Texas passed a bill in 2019 that makes first time offenders eligible to get deferred adjudication for a DWI. This is a huge development from our legislature because formerly any DWI offense typically ended with a conviction – and that charge stayed on a person’s record permanently.

This is important because it was something you wouldn’t be able to choose to fail to disclose or to expunge in the future. The implications reverberated throughout the rest of your life. In certain instances it might affect a person’s career choice, it might affect the status of their driver’s license, and it would be considered in any judicial decisions regarding future misconduct.

But thanks to HB 3582, in force as of September 2019, a DWI charge is no longer necessarily a permanent scar on someone’s record. For certain qualifying cases, a deferred probation can be negotiated. Of course this depends on a person’s criminal history and how intoxicated they were at the time they were stopped. After a deferred probation is successfully completed, it will show as dismissed on a person’s record and can therefore eventually be expunged or become eligible for non-disclosure.

Make sure to have someone well-versed in the law handle your specific case so you can take advantage of this change in state law. If you find yourself in this situation, or know someone who is, then feel free to contact me, Sung Kim, at 903-753-4955 and I can offer some guidance and support. Criminal consultations are free of charge.