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I just filled out my application online and put down 3 arrests that could not be found, one was in Fort Worth, on North Richland Hills and the other Watauga, 2 were family violence and one was not signing a traffic ticket, the oldest one was around 30 yrs ago and the newer on in NRH 10 years or so. I put these down and had to guess at they date and year and wrote that in my commets on each one and also stated that they could not find them in their records? I was not convicted on any of them but to be safe I just put unknown. I guess the question is, should I have even put them down and what if the DPS wants me to provide proof that I was arrested lol lol ????? Thanks in advance this is a great forum.....

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I think you were required to put them down. I think DPS will also put a hold on your application until you get them certified letters from each of the three courts saying they have no records they can find. Then you will get the license (barring other unforeseen problems).

If you had not put them down and DPS found out about them, your CHL would be denied for failure to disclose a material fact.

They are probably going to ask you for certified copies of a "no results" records search for the counties the arrests occurred in if you didn't send them with the application.

I had an arrest from 15 years ago that I couldn't remember a date on and there were no records. I got a certified copy of a records search from the county from a year I knew was before the arrest until the current date and didn't have any issues. I just put down ??/1994 as the date of arrest.

HI Hakkamike, and welcome to the forum! As you are finding there's a wealth of CHL and gun related information right at your fingertips plus a wonderful bunch of people to get to know.

I agree with what srothstein and koolaid have said. Self declaring prior offenses is one of the items DPS looks favorably upon. One of our forum members mentioned last month that due to his "non-declaration" of prior offenses, he was declined. So they place high value on it. Full disclosure is the key issue here. So if you did, you did good.

Koolaid is right on about getting CERTIFIED copies from the cities and county that they have no record of prior arrests for you.

As you applied online, you will be getting the official application packet from DPS. You will need to review that VERY carefully when you receive it for errors(to prevent delays when you send it in). There is also a box for explanations of "criminal history" on page 3. If there's not enough room to fully explain all circumstances, print "see attachment A". And on a separate piece of paper, title it Attachment A, and go into full explanation of what happened, or lack thereof, if needed. My attachment A turned out to be 2 pages(in landscape form!) of typewritten text!

Be sure to send in the original certified copies of the "dispositions" you have.

I was so concerned about my "history" that I obtained certified background checks from Arlington & Euless, and sent those in...just to be on the safe side.

Oh! I'm rambling again. Anyway, welcome and if you have ANY questions, just ask away. We are here to help.

Yep, i agree with all of the above.
I had a similar situation, what with 30 , even 40 year old offenses.
Ii's too late for you to proceed this way.
But my recommendation if you don't have documentation for offenses you list, is to immediately get on acquiring the documentation when the
application is mailed in.
That way you have it (hopefully!) by the time they ask for, because they will definitely ask for it.
This keeps your delays as short as possible.
Good luck!

PappaGun wrote:Yep, i agree with all of the above.
I had a similar situation, what with 30 , even 40 year old offenses.
Ii's too late for you to proceed this way.
But my recommendation if you don't have documentation for offenses you list, is to immediately get on acquiring the documentation when the
application is mailed in.
That way you have it (hopefully!) by the time they ask for, because they will definitely ask for it.
This keeps your delays as short as possible.
Good luck!

I had a similar experience. Two felony charges that had been no-billed as self defense. I had to show that both were no-billed, even though it is evident I have no felony offenses on my record. They had me go to the Dallas court house and get a certified document stating both offenses had been no-billed. It was a pain in the rear. If that was not enough of a pain...I also had been arrested for a traffic ticket and a bad check at 18. Again....no charges were filed. i paid the check and the ticket and poof...went on my way. This was 30 years ago. LOL...I can't remember much about it at all...other than to not write hot checks and always pay traffic tickets on time. I also had to get dispositions from both the county court and city court stating that all was clear. It made no sense to me that they do a back ground check and see I am clean...but then I also have to prove I am clean concerning offenses they know nothing about. It is nuts!!!

Reading this thread makes me wonder...am I going to have to do that all over again for a renewal???? I didn't have to send anything to Utah...they did their own back ground search.

Welcome to the forum.

You may want to check closer on your previous arrests. If you have been previously convicted of family violence, it may be a permanent disqualifier for your CHL. If you were not convicted and they released you, you will still need something from the countycourts stating they have no record.

You need to validate what the actual disposition was on it and, if they find them, then consult a knowledgeable CHL instructor or the DPS to see if you qualify before spending the money for the class. If no records exist and they provide you a letter stating such, you should be good to go!