Will My Employer Find Out if I’m Arrested?

December 2, 2016

By Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Jeremy Rosenthal

texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

I get asked this a lot.  My guess is normally employers don’t find out but information is a hard thing to control.

Will the Police or Courts Notify My Work?

Rarely.  Most State and even Federal courts are inundated with case after case.  Usually your case is nothing special to them and they’ve got their own issues to deal with or worry about and there’s really no reason for them to go out of their way to hurt someone’s ability to make a living.  Plus they understand notifying an employer for any reason is — how should I say politely — “messed up” or “below the belt.”

What Are Situations Where Police or Courts Would Notify My Work?

One way work finds out is in cases where law enforcement really doesn’t like someone they will have them arrested at work.  Maybe they think it’s flashy or they feel entitled to humiliate someone.  This almost never happens on garden variety arrests for assault, DWI,  or theft.

Sometimes a Court could impose work related restrictions as a condition of bond or probation.  That could be related to driving company vehicles in a DWI case, or potentially limiting or monitoring travel in some felony cases.  Some sex cases might involve the accused not being able to work around children until the case is finalized.

Another rare reason might be someone from work could be called as a witness or by an investigator for some reason (assuming the criminal charge isn’t work related to begin with).

Your work could learn about the criminal case too due to absences for Court or because you find yourself in a funk where others around you are wondering what’s been eating at you.

What Will A Background Check Show?

In this information age, you should assume a background check will show your arrest and/or charges.  There is an error rate like with anything else and it’s not 100% your arrest will show up or be accurate.  But it’s best to be honest if you’re asked about an arrest.

Do I Have to Tell My Employer?

Read your company hand-book.

Texas is an at-will state for employment purposes so you can be hired, fired, promoted or demoted for good reasons, bad reasons or no reason at all.  This means you can be fired for not telling your employer if your hand-book says you must.  You can also be fired if you do tell work you were arrested, unfortunately.

My experience is with most charges employers take a “wait and see” attitude.  Many are actually extremely supportive.

Obviously I don’t know your employer as well as you do.  So disclosing an arrest is understandably a calculated gamble.

Expunctions and Non-Disclosures

See if you are eligible for an expunction or a non-disclosure when your case is over.  These can eliminate or lessen the amount of public information available about your case.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice.  For advice about any situation you should contact a lawyer directly.

 

 


Protecting a Professional License When Facing Criminal Charges

January 21, 2014

By Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

(972) 369-0577

texasdefensefirm.com

A professional license is like your personal Alamo.  It’s your livelihood and must be defended at all costs.

Any criminal charge must be evaluated to gauge it’s impact on your ability to either attain or maintain a professional license.  In some instances losing a license because of a criminal record is automatic and in other instances it may simply open the door to a licensing board to taking action.

This intersection of law is between traditional criminal law and administrative law as criminal courts don’t directly weigh-in on licenses such as medical licenses, CPA licenses, or engineering licenses.  Those decisions are made by different bodies.

Texas Occupations Code Chapter 53 governs the consequences of criminal records on certain professional licenses.  It’s structure demonstrates the complex and layered approach the legislature intended in situations when dealing with certain crimes as they relate to certain professions.

Your criminal lawyer needs to be mindful of the professional consequences in a criminal action.  Someone facing family assault charges, DWI, or drug charges may be facing stiff probation from the criminal court — but probation may be a hollow victory if administrative action against a professional license wipes-out your ability to put food on the table.

The end-game is what really matters and a good criminal lawyer is thinking 5-steps ahead.  Sometimes you simply need a “not-guilty” verdict… and that is that!

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice.  For legal advice about any situation you should contact an attorney directly.


The List of Who Can See a Non-Disclosed Criminal Record in Texas

July 8, 2013

By Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

A non-disclosure can generally be described as “hiding” a criminal record from the public.  This means your record never really goes away.  Certain agencies and entities can always view your criminal record.

You can read about eligibility requirements here for a petition for non-disclosure.

Here is the list currently provided by the Texas Government Code 411.081(i) of agencies that can see non-disclosed criminal records.

  • The State Board for Educator Certification;
  • School Districts;
  • Charter Schools;
  • Private Schools;
  • Regional education-service center;
  • Commercial-transportation companies;
  • Education shared-service arrangement companies;
  • Texas Medical Board;
  • Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired;
  • Board of Law Examiners;
  • State Bar of Texas;
  • A District Court regarding petition for name change;
  • Texas School for the deaf;
  • Department of Family and Protective Services;
  • Texas Youth Commission;
  • Department of Assistive and Rehabilitation Services;
  • Department of State Health Services;
  • Local mental health services;
  • Local mental retardation authorities;
  • Community centers providing services to mentally ill or retarded persons;
  • Texas Private Security Board;
  • Municipal or volunteer fire departments;
  • Texas Board of Nursing;
  • Safe houses providing shelter to children in harmful situations;
  • Public or non-profit hospital districts;
  • Texas Juvenile Probation Commission;
  • Securities Commissioner;
  • Banking Commissioner;
  • Savings and Mortgage Lending Commissioner;
  • Consumer Credit Commissioner;
  • Credit Union Commissioner;
  • State Board of Public Accounting;
  • Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation;
  • Health and Human Services Commission;
  • Department of Aging and Disability Services;
  • Texas Education Agency;
  • Guardianship Certification Board;
  • County Clerks office in regards to appointment of a guardian;
  • Department of Information Resources;
  • Court Reporters Certification Board;
  • Texas Department of Insurance;
  • Teacher Retirement System of Texas.

Non-dislclosures should not be confused with expunctions which are generally a complete destruction of a criminal case on one’s record.  You can read about expunctions here.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice.  For legal advice about any situation you should contact an attorney directly.


Charges Where You Can’t Get Deferred Adjudication in Texas

April 12, 2010

By Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

Deferred adjudication is where you plead guilty but the judge does not actually find you guilty.  Instead they defer that finding while you are placed on probation.

Deferred adjudication is available on many criminal charges in Texas but not all.  Most people are familiar with deferred for traffic tickets but the truth is the concept is far more expansive.

Virtually every offense in Texas is legally subject to deferred with the exception to DWI offenses, (Tex.Pen.C. 49.04 – 49.08), capital offenses, certain sex offenses, and certain repeat offenses (typically sex offenses or selling drugs in drug free zones).  Texas Code of Criminal Procedure section 42.12 Section 5 governs deferred and it’s availability.

As with which cases a person may receive community supervision, in certain situations for deferred, the statutory scheme gets tricky and you should consult an attorney if you have any questions.

I have discussed in previous blawgs the other pros and cons of deferred here, and here.  Never assume that by pleading guilty (or nolo contendere) and getting deferred that your criminal record will be unharmed or will undo itself.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article should be considered leal advice.  For legal advise specific to your situation you should directly consult an attorney.


Petition for Non-Disclosure

March 15, 2010

By Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

jeremy@texasdefensefirm.com

(972) 369-0577

A Petition for Non-Disclosure is an intermediate tool used to clean someone’s record.  It essentially hides your record from the public.  It is not as sweeping or as beneficial as an expunction, but it can lessen the blunt force of a conviction.

The Non-Disclosure statute is very complicated and is loaded with qualifications and exceptions.  What it means, in general, is that your criminal record stays intact (unlike an expunction where an arrest record is destroyed), but the state is limited in it’s ability to disseminate the information of your record to the general public.  As you can see by reading the statute, there are numerous agencies which are exempted from honoring the non-disclosure (such as professional licensing bodies), and there are tons of offense which don’t qualify for non-disclosures (such as sexual assault, stalking, and family violence affirmative findings).

Here is how it generally works:  If you plead guilty and are placed on deferred adjudication, you may be eligible to file a petition for non-disclosure two years after the date of your Tex.Code.Crim.P. 42.12(5)(c) dismissal on misdemeanor cases and five years after the dismissal of your felony.  Your petition is discretionary meaning the prosecution can fight it and you must prove to the judge that granting it is in the best interests of justice.

The code was recently amended to allow for immediate non-disclosure of most misdemeanor offenses after successfully being discharged from deferred adjudication.

The benefit of a petition for non-disclosure is that your criminal record shouldn’t be readily available to private companies that do general background searches.  The downfall is that they can be challenging to get and even though the information s difficult to attain, it hasn’t been destroyed as with expunctions.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article should be considered legal advice.  For legal advice you should always consult an attorney.