Many people who've made mistakes in their past would like a chance to start over with a clean slate. Although most criminal convictions cannot be removed from an individual's record, there are certain situations where a person is able to have their record sealed (“nondisclosure”) or cleared (“expunction”). The State Law Library often receives questions related to both procedures. To assist in answering those questions, our librarians have created an Expunctions and Nondisclosure Orders research guide.

This research guide includes information on:

• State laws governing the expunction of criminal records and nondisclosure orders
• “Plain English” summaries of those laws
• The Texas Young Lawyers Association pamphlet, Expunctions in Texas
• TexasLawHelp.org's toolkits for Expunctions and Nondisclosure Orders
• Remote access to e-books such as Matthew Bender's Texas Criminal Practice Guide

If you have any questions or would like more information about our other Legal Research Guides please don't hesitate to Ask a Librarian!