NEAL DAVIS LAW FIRM, PLLC

Texas recognizes two types of community supervision: probation (sometimes called “straight probation”) and deferred adjudication.

With probation, even if you successfully complete the probationary period, you have a final conviction for the offense.

On the other hand, if you are placed on deferred adjudication and successfully complete it, the charge against you is dismissed and there is no conviction. Some criminal lawyers tell clients that if they successfully complete deferred adjudication, they will not have “a record.” This is not true and I’d be a rich man if I had a dollar for every time a client told me his lawyer made this representation. A criminal record will exist that you entered a plea to the charge and were put on deferred adjudication, and this can impact such things as calculating your criminal history in federal court. Honest, good criminal defense attorneys will explain this to you at the time you decide whether to plead. Still, you will not have “a conviction” and can truthfully answer “no” on job applications and alike if asked if you have ever had a final criminal conviction for an offense.

On probation, you are sentenced to a particular term in jail or prison, which is “probated” for a particular period. For example, a judge imposes five years imprisonment, probated for 10 years, for a second degree theft. If you then violate your conditions and the probation is revoked, you can be incarcerated up to the original jail or prison term that was imposed (in the above theft example, your sentence would be up to five years’ imprisonment).

However, with deferred adjudication, you are not sentenced to a term of incarceration at the time the deferred adjudication is imposed. If you violate the deferred adjudication conditions and you are adjudicated guilty, the judge may sentence you up to the maximum (in the above theft example, your sentence could be up to 20 years). That’s the rub: unlike probation, a successfully completed deferred adjudication does not result in a final conviction and, if you mess up, you can be sentenced to the max.

There are certain offenses for which a judge cannot grant deferred adjudication, although the judge can still grant probation, and vice-versa. A good Houston criminal defense attorney or Harris County criminal defense lawyer can advise you whether you are eligible for community supervision and from whom (a judge or jury).