Texas Expunction in 2026: When You Can Wipe a Record Off the Books

Expunction is the strongest record-clearing remedy Texas law offers — it doesn't seal your record, it destroys it. But the path to expunction is governed by tight rules: which pathway your case falls into, how long you have to wait, and a "Criminal Episode Rule" that quietly disqualifies a lot of otherwise-eligible cases. Here's what the 2025-2026 statutes actually say, and how to read your own situation.

By the team at Wyde & Associates · Updated May 2026

Expunction vs. nondisclosure — pick the right tool

Texas record clearing operates in two parallel systems, and the difference matters. Expunction (Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Chapter 55A) destroys the record. Once an expunction order is signed, the state and its agencies are required to physically delete or return every record of the arrest, charge, and proceeding. Private background check companies that aggregate data from state repositories are legally required to obliterate it from their systems. Legally, you can deny the arrest ever happened (with one narrow exception — testifying under oath in a criminal proceeding).

Nondisclosure (Tex. Gov't Code Chapter 411) is different: it seals the record from public view, but the underlying record continues to exist. Criminal justice agencies, certain state licensing boards, and some government employers can still see it. Most private employers, landlords, and the general public cannot.

Expunction is the better remedy when it's available — but it's only available when the state failed to convict you, declined to prosecute, or let the limitations period run. We've written a separate guide on Texas nondisclosure orders if your case ended in deferred adjudication or a first-time misdemeanor conviction.

The four expunction pathways under Chapter 55A

Effective January 1, 2025, House Bill 4504 fully recodified Texas expunction law from old Chapter 55 into the modern Chapter 55A. The substance of the four eligibility pathways carried over largely intact:

Pathway 1: Acquittal or actual innocence (immediate)

Under arts. 55A.002 and 55A.003, a not-guilty verdict at trial or a pardon based on actual innocence creates an immediate right to expunction. The trial court must advise the defendant of this right and may enter the order within 30 days — without requiring a separate civil lawsuit. This is the cleanest possible expunction path.

Pathway 2: Class C deferred adjudication (immediate on completion)

Most deferred adjudications cannot be expunged in Texas — they route to nondisclosure instead. The narrow exception is Class C misdemeanor deferred adjudications (fine-only offenses like minor traffic violations or public intoxication). Under art. 55A.051, successful completion and discharge of a Class C deferred makes the record immediately eligible for expunction.

Pathway 3: Unfiled arrests (waiting period or prosecutor certification)

If you were arrested but the prosecutor never filed an indictment or information, art. 55A.052 sets default waiting periods measured from the date of arrest:

• 180 days for Class C misdemeanors
• 1 year for Class A or B misdemeanors
• 3 years for all felonies

Alternatively, expunction can be granted before those windows close if the prosecuting attorney certifies in writing that the records are no longer needed for any criminal investigation.

Pathway 4: Dismissed charges (statute of limitations)

If formal charges were filed but later dismissed or quashed, art. 55A.053 generally requires you to wait until the statute of limitations on the underlying offense has expired — meaning the state can no longer re-file. Calculating that date is the bulk of the work in dismissed-case expunctions, and the wait times changed materially in the 2025 legislative session.

Statute-of-limitations wait times for dismissed cases

The exact wait depends on the underlying offense. The framework below reflects Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Chapter 12 as updated through the 89th Legislature:

No statute of limitations — never expungeable via SOL

• Murder and manslaughter (art. 12.01(1)(A))
• Aggravated sexual assaults (art. 12.01(1)(B))
• Continuous sexual abuse of a child (PC 21.02), indecency with a child
• Fatal hit-and-run, human trafficking offenses, certain DNA-evidence cases

10-year tier — expanded by SB 16 (eff. Sept. 17, 2025)

Senate Bill 16 added Texas's new "Real Property Theft" (PC 31.23) and "Real Property Fraud" (PC 32.60) offenses to the 10-year limitation tier. Combined with traditional 10-year offenses (arson, certain forgeries, breaches of fiduciary duty, select non-forensic sexual assaults), a dismissal in any of these categories carries a 10-year wait before expunction is available.

7-year tier — SB 2798 fraud overhaul (eff. Sept. 1, 2025)

Senate Bill 2798 unified Texas fraud limitations into a single 7-year window. That now covers most Chapter 32 offenses (credit-card abuse, false statement to obtain credit, identity theft), money laundering, Medicaid and health-care fraud, bigamy (no minor involved), and felony Tax Code violations. Important non-retroactivity rule: if a fraud offense was already barred under the older 3- or 5-year limit before September 1, 2025, it stays barred and the older, shorter wait still applies.

5-year tier — standard violent and property felonies

• Theft, robbery, burglary, kidnapping
• Insurance fraud
• Other enumerated felonies under art. 12.01(4)

3-year catch-all — everything else (felonies)

Under art. 12.01(11), any felony not specifically placed in a higher tier defaults to a 3-year limitation. This includes most drug possession offenses, non-aggravated assaults, and tampering with government records. Notably, the new Penal Code 21.03 ("Continuous Sexual Abuse" against adults) was not added to the no-SOL list, so it currently sits in this 3-year window.

2-year tier — misdemeanors (with one big exception)

Most Class A, B, and C misdemeanors carry a 2-year limitation under art. 12.02 — first-time DWI, petty theft, marijuana possession, and the like. The major exception is misdemeanor Assault Family Violence, which sits in a 3-year window; see our separate guide on clearing AFV charges for why.

The Criminal Episode Rule: a hidden disqualifier

Even when every other piece of the analysis lines up, art. 55A.151 bars expunction if the arrest arose from a "criminal episode" — a single continuous arrest event — in which the petitioner was convicted of, or remains subject to prosecution for, any other offense from that same episode.

Concrete example: you're arrested simultaneously for possession of a controlled substance and unlawfully carrying a weapon. The drug charge is dismissed, but the weapon charge results in a final conviction. Even though the drug case is dismissed and the SOL has run, you cannot expunge it — the conviction on the secondary charge anchors the shared arrest record permanently. The state will not redact an arrest report that lawfully establishes the related conviction.

The Criminal Episode Rule is the single most common reason an otherwise-eligible expunction petition gets denied. If you were arrested on multiple charges in the same incident, all the charges from that arrest have to be cleanly resolved before expunction is available on any of them.

What's been deprecated — don't use old logic

Two pieces of old folk wisdom about Texas expunction are now wrong:

• The historical "Five-Year Felony Bar" — under which courts could deny expunction if the petitioner had any unrelated felony conviction in the prior five years — was deleted in the move to Chapter 55A. Unrelated felony convictions no longer block an otherwise-eligible expunction. Only the Criminal Episode Rule does.
• Senate Bill 219 and House Bill 2708 (89th Legislature) did not pass. SB 219 would have automated nondisclosures via monthly DPS audits and repealed filing fees; HB 2708 would have removed the "never previously convicted" requirement for sealing misdemeanor convictions. Both died in committee. Anyone telling you Texas now has automatic nondisclosure or relaxed first-offender rules is working from outdated drafts.

2025-2026 procedural updates that actually matter

SB 1667 (eff. Sept. 1, 2025) — modernized service and clerk retention

Senate Bill 1667 made electronic service of expunction petitions and orders to state agencies entirely free. Where non-electronic service is required, the fee is standardized at a minimum of $25 per agency. SB 1667 also lets clerks retain expunction orders indefinitely, which solves a long-standing problem: petitioners would lose their physical order years later and have no way to verify their expunged status once the case file was destroyed. Federal mental-health prohibited-person data under Gov't Code 411.052 is specifically exempted from destruction under SB 1667.

SB 537 (eff. Sept. 1, 2025) — fee waivers for specialty-court graduates

Senate Bill 537 waives all expunction filing fees for individuals who successfully complete:

• Veterans Treatment Court Programs (Gov't Code Ch. 124)
• Mental Health Court Programs (Gov't Code Ch. 125)
• Authorized pretrial intervention programs (Gov't Code 76.011)

If your case resolved through one of these specialty courts, your expunction filing should cost nothing.

Procedural timing — what to expect after filing

Under art. 55A.254(a), the court must set the hearing on an ex parte expunction petition no earlier than the 30th day after the petition is filed. Notice of the hearing and a copy of the petition must be served on every official, agency, or entity listed in the petition, giving them at least 30 days to respond. After the hearing, if the court grants the order, the agencies named in the petition are legally required to destroy or return the records.

FAQ

Can I expunge a deferred adjudication that wasn't Class C?

No — the only deferreds eligible for expunction are Class C misdemeanors after successful completion. Misdemeanor and felony deferreds at higher levels route to nondisclosure under Chapter 411, not expunction.

Can I expunge a felony conviction?

No. Texas does not allow expunction of any final felony conviction. Felony convictions are also not sealable under Chapter 411. Pardon and post-conviction writs are entirely separate remedies.

How long does the expunction process take?

Once the petition is filed, the court has to wait at least 30 days to set a hearing. In practice, most uncontested expunctions take 60-120 days from filing to a signed order, depending on the county and whether any agencies object. Agency compliance after the order signs typically takes another 30-60 days.

Will an expunction make my old record disappear from background checks?

On the government side, yes — agencies are required to destroy the record. Private background check companies are required to do the same, but in practice they often lag. We've written a separate guide on what to do when a private screening company keeps reporting an expunged or sealed record.

Bottom line

Expunction is the strongest record-clearing remedy Texas offers, but it's also the most rule-bound. The pathway analysis (acquittal vs. Class C deferred vs. unfiled arrest vs. dismissal) determines which wait time applies; the Criminal Episode Rule can disqualify otherwise-eligible cases; and the 2025 legislative session shifted several wait times in ways that older guides won't reflect. If you've got a dismissal, an acquittal, or an unfiled arrest sitting on your record, it's worth a careful look — especially given the new SB 1667 and SB 537 procedural improvements that made the process cheaper and faster.

This article is general information about Texas record-clearing law, not legal advice. Specific situations require specific counsel. The statutory references above reflect the law as of the 2025-2026 legislative landscape.