Criminal Records, Expungement Felony Deferred Adjudication, I need a job.

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Chris7

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In 1995 I burned my own house down, and thank God nobody was in it. I was an active alcoholic and a total mess. I was put on felony deferred adjudication. It was a second degree felony. I was darned lucky I didn't go to prison. I received ten years probation, did community service, and had thousands of dollars of restitution to pay.

I didn't breeze through those ten years. I went before the judge twice for violating probation because I didn't go to my probation appointments and pay my payments on time. I didn't commit any new offences though. I had debilitating depression for years. I was on medications and in therapy most of those ten years. I went to my AA meetings and worked hard to get well. I'm still in AA and I have been sober since February, 1995.
The judge lowered my payments years ago. I think he could see that I was trying. I was grateful. It was all I could pay. When I had a little extra money I paid more. But by the end of my probationary period I only paid about half of what I owed. Don't get me wrong.

Had I been able to, I would have payed all of what I owed plus interest. I also don't blame my actions on being drunk at the time I did such an aweful thing. I chose to drink and I burned down my own house. It hurt a lot of people, not just the insurance company. I am not the same person I was all those years ago. I have been well enough to work a full time job for almost three years. Nobody would hire me. I was discharged from probation in May of 2005, and I hoped that getting a job would be easier. It hasn't been. I 've been doing odd jobs that don't entail background questions or checks. But I need a full time job that helps to support my family.

I totally understand why people wouldn't want to hire an arsonist. But I need a job. Please help. Does anyone know what I can do? I heard there is something called expungement or non-disclosure. I think because even though I completed and was discharged from probation I didn't pay all of the money. Is there any way it is still possible to get a non-disclosureor expungement? Or how about any organizations that help people like me? I spoke with a counselor at the Texas Workforce Commission. Unfortunately because I was not convicted he can't help me. Am I in a loophole? Thank you for your time and any ideas you have.
 
First of all, have you ran a background check on yourself to see what comes up?

A felony on your record is not necessarily a dealbreaker with everyone. I would see if you can talk to an employer about it or if maybe a friend or a family member can help you. When my husband was employed with Frito Lay, he was able to get his cousin a job with them even though he had a felony drug conviction 10 years prior. If you have totally stayed out of trouble since then, somebody might be able to get an exception made for you.

Also you can see an attorney about expungement.
 
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