In San Antonio, Texas having a clean criminal record is important when trying to stand out in our competitive job market. How do you get a clean record in San Antonio, Texas after an arrest or a criminal accusation has been filed against you? How can you clean an arrest off your record? This article will give a step by step explanation of how a criminal defense attorney can help you get an arrest off your record, it will explain why you should want a criminal arrest off your record, and whether or not you qualify to have your record cleaned.
Why Should I Want A Clean Criminal Record?
There are two types of people in San Antonio, Texas; people who have criminal records and people who have clean criminal records. Once you get arrested you have a criminal record. After the police officer puts you in handcuffs and takes you to jail you put your hand on a machine and that machine matches your fingerprints to the police report and the criminal accusation being made against you. From that point forward you belong to the group of people who have criminal records. This means that anyone who runs a background check (these have become cheaper over the years) can see your arrest and the reason for it. When you are competing for a job the last thing you want to explain is the ridiculous arrest you got when you were twenty, or stupid thing you did to get arrested in your teens. Once we had a client call us who needed an expunction because his future father in law was asking for his date of birth so he could run his own background check.
The best part about being a criminal defense attorney is that you get to give people fresh starts. A clean criminal record lets people avoid these awkward conversations. When a case is expunged (the legal process by which it is taken off your record) the records of the case are destroyed so that you can legitimately say that you were not the person who was arrested and that any record of the case is wrong because those records no longer exist.
Getting a clean criminal record allows you to put your best foot forward at job interviews and allows you to compete based on your merits not on something stupid you did in your past.
Should I Clean My Record Myself?
There are lots of websites offering discounted rates on filing expunctions. These websites often offer free background checks and then, for a fee, allow you to file an expunction. Sounds great. But not so fast, hotshot! The purpose of an expunction is to make sure that every agency that has a file on you, as the result of an arrest destroys the file as the result of a court order. If you miss even a single agency the entire expunction is worthless. Our expunctions are so thorough that we destroy all records of the expunction. That way no one can find any record of your arrest. By hiring a knowledgeable law firm, you make sure that your expunction is done correctly. Many times, we have had clients use cut rate services to file their own expunctions only to find out that they have failed a background check. We then have to see what agencies were missed and re-file the expunction. This means that the client has to be charged for our services as well as the services of their cut rate do-it-yourself outfit.
How Do I know If I Qualify?
There are few simple questions to determine if you qualify for an expunction. 1) Was your case dismissed? 2) Has the statute of limitations passed? 3) Was your case reduced to a class C misdemeanor? We will ask all the right questions and provide you with a free background check before we take a fee. Additionally, we will not allow you to hire unless we can be certain that you qualify for an expunction. If you’re ready for a fresh start, give us a call at (210) 361-3113 today!