Class B misdemeanor question

[onecoolpilot]

Regarding the Texas requirement about no Class B in the past 5 years...

I'm not sure if Class B misdemeanors are all criminal, or if traffic violations are in a different category. I was convicted of driving with a suspended license. Will this keep me from getting my chl if it has been less than 5 years?

I have been unable to get a straight answer from my many phone calls to Austin.

thanks for your help

Edit to add that the conviction is listed in Dallas county a class B conviction

[Elvis]

Driving while license suspended or DWLI is usually a Class B offense and would affect your ability to get a CHL.

§ 521.457. DRIVING WHILE LICENSE INVALID. (a) A person
commits an offense if the person operates a motor vehicle on a
highway:
(1) after the person's driver's license has been
canceled under this chapter if the person does not have a license
that was subsequently issued under this chapter;
(2) during a period that the person's driver's license
or privilege is suspended or revoked under any law of this state;
(3) while the person's driver's license is expired if
the license expired during a period of suspension; or
(4) after renewal of the person's driver's license has
been denied under any law of this state, if the person does not have
a driver's license subsequently issued under this chapter.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person is the subject
of an order issued under any law of this state that prohibits the
person from obtaining a driver's license and the person operates a
motor vehicle on a highway.
(c) It is not a defense to prosecution under this section
that the person did not receive actual notice of a suspension
imposed as a result of a conviction for an offense under Section
521.341.
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (c), it is an
affirmative defense to prosecution of an offense, other than an
offense under Section 521.341, that the person did not receive
actual notice of a cancellation, suspension, revocation, or
prohibition order relating to the person's license. For purposes
of this section, actual notice is presumed if the notice was mailed
in accordance with law.
(e) Except as provided by Subsections (f) and (f-1), an
offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(f) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
section that the person has previously been convicted of an offense
under this section or an offense under Section 601.371(a), as that
law existed before September 1, 2003, the offense is a Class B
misdemeanor.
(f-1) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
section that the license of the person has previously been
suspended as the result of an offense involving the operation of a
motor vehicle while intoxicated, the offense is a Class B
misdemeanor.
(g) For purposes of this section, a conviction for an
offense that involves operation of a motor vehicle after August 31,
1987, is a final conviction, regardless of whether the sentence for
the conviction is probated.

[boomerang]

I don't see anything in the law about the type of Class B misdemeanor. It looks like you have to wait.

§ 411.172. ELIGIBILITY. (a) A person is eligible for a
license to carry a concealed handgun if the person:
(1) is a legal resident of this state for the six-month
period preceding the date of application under this subchapter or
is otherwise eligible for a license under Section 411.173(a);
(2) is at least 21 years of age;
(3) has not been convicted of a felony;
(4) is not charged with the commission of a Class A or
Class B misdemeanor or an offense under Section 42.01, Penal Code,
or of a felony under an information or indictment;
(5) is not a fugitive from justice for a felony or a
Class A or Class B misdemeanor;
(6) is not a chemically dependent person;
(7) is not incapable of exercising sound judgment with
respect to the proper use and storage of a handgun;
(8) has not, in the five years preceding the date of
application, been convicted of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor or
an offense under Section 42.01, Penal Code;
(9) is fully qualified under applicable federal and
state law to purchase a handgun;
(10) has not been finally determined to be delinquent
in making a child support payment administered or collected by the
attorney general;
(11) has not been finally determined to be delinquent
in the payment of a tax or other money collected by the comptroller,
the tax collector of a political subdivision of the state, or any
agency or subdivision of the state;
(12) has not been finally determined to be in default
on a loan made under Chapter 57, Education Code;
(13) is not currently restricted under a court
protective order or subject to a restraining order affecting the
spousal relationship, other than a restraining order solely
affecting property interests;
(14) has not, in the 10 years preceding the date of
application, been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent
conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony; and
(15) has not made any material misrepresentation, or
failed to disclose any material fact, in an application submitted
pursuant to Section 411.174 or in a request for application
submitted pursuant to Section 411.175.

[Rusty]

Are you sure that the offence was a class B? I was under the impression that it was determined by the amount of the fine.Anything under $500 would be a class C and you would be elligible for CHL.How much was the fine?

[seamusTX]

In Texas, traffic offenses are criminal offenses and can range up to felonies (for certain types of DWI).

This issue can be confusing, because in some states, traffic offenses are treated as civil offenses.

You have to be sure that you were actually convicted of a class B misdemeanor and didn't get deferred adjudication or a reduced charge.

- Jim

[bauerdj]

From what was posted above it would seem that the offense would be a class "C" unless certain circumstances apply (prior conviction or license was suspended/revoked for DWI)

"(e) Except as provided by Subsections (f) and (f-1), an
offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(f) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
section that the person has previously been convicted of an offense
under this section or an offense under Section 601.371(a), as that
law existed before September 1, 2003, the offense is a Class B
misdemeanor.
(f-1) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
section that the license of the person has previously been
suspended as the result of an offense involving the operation of a
motor vehicle while intoxicated, the offense is a Class B
misdemeanor."

Dave B.

[Keith B]

Regarding the Texas requirement about no Class B in the past 5 years...

I'm not sure if Class B misdemeanors are all criminal, or if traffic violations are in a different category. I was convicted of driving with a suspended license. Will this keep me from getting my chl if it has been less than 5 years?

I have been unable to get a straight answer from my many phone calls to Austin.

thanks for your help

Edit to add that the conviction is listed in Dallas county a class B conviction

If they have you listed as being convicted within the past 5 years with a Class B (as you have stated above,) then I am sure the DPS will classify that as a disqualification. Your best bet is to completely validate that with the Dallas County Courts and if so, then you will have to wait.

[onecoolpilot]

I've talked with the clerk at the court I was in, and I had my so called lawyer (what a waste of money) check on it too. Seems that my case was a Class B conviction. As far as fines, I really can't remember the amounts. I know it wasn't deferred, at least I'm pretty sure it wasn't. I had 6 months of probation and community service time too.

I'm not sure what the outcome would have been without a lawyer, but it seems a bit rediculous for a first offence, but such is life. I'll just have to wait another 13 months to get mine, and hope it's not outlawed by President Obama (oops, going to start a political inferno with that one huh?)

Thanks for all of your comments and help.

[KRM45]

This law was changed during the last legislative session. This was a class B offense prior to the change. If it happened today it would be a class C.

This brings up an interesting legal question though. If you were convicted 4 years ago of an offense that would not be a class B today can you get the CHL?

[seamusTX]

I don't think it works that way.

Some offenses that formerly were defined in the law are no longer offenses. For example, before 2007, carrying a handgun in a vehicle without a CHL (minus the traveling exception) was a class A misdemeanor. It is now legal. But someone convicted under the old law would still be considered convicted of a class A misdemeanor.

The CHL law (GC §411.172) does not contain any provision for a change in the status of an offense from the time of conviction to the present.

I suppose the thinking here is that the person broke the law, knowing, or presumed to know, what it was at the time.

- Jim

[KaiserB]

This law was changed during the last legislative session. This was a class B offense prior to the change. If it happened today it would be a class C.

This brings up an interesting legal question though. If you were convicted 4 years ago of an offense that would not be a class B today can you get the CHL?

You could try to argue this but probably have no grounds to re-adjudicate the offense. Compelling the court in this case may be quite difficult. I think you are stuck with the Class B. (Note: The deferred adjudication of the offense will not help as the disqualification is based on conviction of Class B. Deferred adjudication does not erase the conviction, just the future consequences.)