TexasCHLforum.com

Hi,
I'm filling out the criminal history section of my CHL application and not sure what to do. Here's the story, I'll try to make it short.
Back in 1992 or 1993, when I was 18 or 19 yrs old, my boyfriend and I were arrested and charged with possesion of marijuana(misdemeanor), a court date was set which I didn't know about since we had broken up after the incident, a warrant for my arrest was issued, about a year later in 1994 I found out about it, got a lawyer, turned myself in and the case was dismissed sinch the x-boyfriend had already plead guilty. I have never been arrested for anything since. Here are my questions: I don't know the exact dates of the arrest, should I just put approx. dates, should I also list the date of when I turned myself in separately? At the bottom of the application it says that I must submit certified copies of all judgements and charging instruments from the courts or a record search indicating no record was found, How do I do this/who do I call? should I do this before sending application or wait and see if they ask for it since it has been 20 years ago. Last question: When I was 14 yrs old, I ran away from home, was picked up by the police, taken to a juvenile detention center, where I was held for 24 hrs, until my mom could come pick me up, mom picked me up and that was that, I, nor my mom ever went before a judge, nor do I remember being fingerprinted or anything like that, they just told my mom that she had 24 hrs to come get me and then they had to release me. Do I need to list this incident? Hopefully I don't since I have no idea what county this happened in or the date.

Thanks so much
Beth

The best you can do is answer truthfully. If your memory is imperfect but you are being honest, they can work through that. Basically, you need to truthfully digitally "sign" the application that it is true to the best of your knowledge.

What is not acceptable is hiding something and lying about it.

If the DPS needs more information, they will request it.

Bethstang wrote:Hi,
I'm filling out the criminal history section of my CHL application and not sure what to do. Here's the story, I'll try to make it short.
Back in 1992 or 1993, when I was 18 or 19 yrs old, my boyfriend and I were arrested and charged with possesion of marijuana(misdemeanor), a court date was set which I didn't know about since we had broken up after the incident, a warrant for my arrest was issued, about a year later in 1994 I found out about it, got a lawyer, turned myself in and the case was dismissed sinch the x-boyfriend had already plead guilty. I have never been arrested for anything since. Here are my questions: I don't know the exact dates of the arrest, should I just put approx. dates, should I also list the date of when I turned myself in separately? At the bottom of the application it says that I must submit certified copies of all judgements and charging instruments from the courts or a record search indicating no record was found, How do I do this/who do I call? should I do this before sending application or wait and see if they ask for it since it has been 20 years ago. Last question: When I was 14 yrs old, I ran away from home, was picked up by the police, taken to a juvenile detention center, where I was held for 24 hrs, until my mom could come pick me up, mom picked me up and that was that, I, nor my mom ever went before a judge, nor do I remember being fingerprinted or anything like that, they just told my mom that she had 24 hrs to come get me and then they had to release me. Do I need to list this incident? Hopefully I don't since I have no idea what county this happened in or the date.

Thanks so much
Beth

As jumping frog said you must be truthful with DPS they will work with you. Understand if you were arrested finger printed they will find it doesn't matter how long ago these folks are very good at their job. Good luck.

Hello Beth. I got into all kinds of stuff back in 1992-1994. What I did to save time was: I went to the county clerks office where the crimes were committed. The clerk was able to pull up all my charges, dispositions, and the release from probation. The cases were so old that they had to pull the info off of microfilm. I put it off forever because I thought it would be a pain in the butt. Actually it was very easy and the clerks were very helpful. I had the copies certified by the clerk and sent all that info in with my packet. I figured anything I could do on my end would speed up their background check. From what I hear from the senior/veteran chl holders, I did the right thing. Good luck!

If I were you, I would contact the court clerk (county or district or both) in the county where you were charged. They will be able to find your record normally and get you the certified copy of the record. This will include the dates of arrest and the disposition. I fthey cannot find it, then they would be able to get you the certified letter that says they cannot find the records.

If they find the records, list the arrest with the date the records show. If they cannot find the records, list the dates to the best of your memory, just like you did here.

And for the runaway part, you were not arrested as there is no crime in Texas for being a runaway (assuming it was in Texas). I would put it on the form, just to be sure that DPS agrees with me. This is a case of not including information can hurt your chances and including too much will not hurt you.

I keep telling people that have questions about their criminal history. Pay for it via the TX DPS website first. See what is on there.

I agree with srothstein. I had a similar problem. I was arrested for a misdemeanor dwi 34 years ago. I could not remember the date, but I know it happened in the summer of 79. On the application, it required I put an exact date, but in the comments section, I stated that I was not sure of the exact date. Before I mailed my paperwork, I contacted the court clerk to see what records they had. It was so long ago, they had to retrieve them from the attic of the court house! They could not find any records of the original arrest date or charges, but they did have the final disposition showing I had completed my probation and charges were dismissed. I sent a certified copy of that with my paperwork and all passed OK.

As stated above, be honest and give them all you can track down. It will speed the process up. Good luck!