Declaratory Order - Texas BON

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I was accepted into an RN program starting in August. I completed my fingerprinting and the BON sent me a letter stating that I needed to complete a declaratory order petition. I was arrested for a class A misdemeanor at age 17 (11 years ago). The court order to expunge my record was signed in April of this year. I was never charged and completed a pretrial diversion. The DO states that expunged offenses do not need to be disclosed but that I should send in a copy of the court order expunging the record just in case. Should I still send in court records for my initial arrest? The timing was a little strange on my background check. Technically the record is expunged but the state of Texas had 60 days to destroy all records so it was probably still on my record when my fingerprinting was completed.

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Specializes in ICU.

I'm also in TX but didn't have to do a DO. Send in what the BON is asking for. Find a document from the authority that expunged your offense that states it is/being expunged and send this to the BON. If they want any information about your arrest they can find it or they will contact you asking for it.

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@BriD-6 I am curious how you are getting on now?

I had an arrest expunged in April also, but it showed up today on a personal FBI background check. My state check has already been cleared.... but they said the FBI database won't clear until August 26th (which also happens to be the start date of my program). This sucks so much. I don't know what to do.

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17 minutes ago, Firefly384 said:

@BriD-6 I am curious how you are getting on now?

I had an arrest expunged in April also, but it showed up today on a personal FBI background check. My state check has already been cleared.... but they said the FBI database won't clear until August 26th (which also happens to be the start date of my program). This sucks so much. I don't know what to do.

I actually misunderstood the letter that was sent to me. It basically stated that I was approved for school but that I would need to submit an application to take the NCLEX sooner than most people (I think 6-8 weeks before I graduate). I think it's because they still saw it on my record but they saw that it was in the process of being expunged. Truth be told, I think the BON can still see expunged records but I could be wrong.

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1 minute ago, BriD-6 said:

I actually misunderstood the letter that was sent to me. It basically stated that I was approved for school but that I would need to submit an application to take the NCLEX sooner than most people (I think 6-8 weeks before I graduate). I think it's because they still saw it on my record but they saw that it was in the process of being expunged. Truth be told, I think the BON can still see expunged records but I could be wrong.

Did you do a declaratory order and send in documents other than proof of expungement? From what I am reading around here it takes so long to be resolved...so even if I submit a DO now I still might be late for my program that starts 26th August...

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2 minutes ago, Firefly384 said:

Did you do a declaratory order and send in documents other than proof of expungement? From what I am reading around here it takes so long to be resolved...so even if I submit a DO now I still might be late for my program that starts 26th August...

Did they request a DO from you? I didn't actually need to submit a DO so I didn't do one. I thought they requested the DO but it turns out they were referring to the paperword I had to send in for the NCLEX.

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Just now, BriD-6 said:

Did they request a DO from you? I didn't actually need to submit a DO so I didn't do one. I thought they requested the DO but it turns out they were referring to the paperword I had to send in for the NCLEX.

Not yet; what happened is the BON emailed me with the authorization code to do my background check. But before I do that I wanted to see if my expungement had cleared

1. I did a DPS and FBI check for myself

2. The DPS had cleared my arrest but the FBI has not

Because the arrest has shown up on one of those databases I am worried I will have to do the DO and miss out on my program regardless. I have sent an email practically begging the DPS to send the court details to the FBI to get it off their database...it has been almost 90 days but they said on the phone the FBI one will not clear until 26th August.

So now I am torn between giving up on the program or signing a DO and potentially losing my spot anyway. I am not normally this defeatist but this system is not fun to be a part of...

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2 minutes ago, Firefly384 said:

Not yet; what happened is the BON emailed me with the authorization code to do my background check. But before I do that I wanted to see if my expungement had cleared

1. I did a DPS and FBI check for myself

2. The DPS had cleared my arrest but the FBI has not

Because the arrest has shown up on one of those databases I am worried I will have to do the DO and miss out on my program regardless. I have sent an email practically begging the DPS to send the court details to the FBI to get it off their database...it has been almost 90 days but they said on the phone the FBI one will not clear until 26th August.

So now I am torn between giving up on the program or signing a DO and potentially losing my spot anyway. I am not normally this defeatist but this system is not fun to be a part of...

How long ago was your arrest? Mine was definitely not cleared yet... Not even by the DPS but they still approved me. With that being said, everyone else was getting their blue cards one and a half weeks after fingerprinting and it took me almost a month to get the letter. I would go ahead and do your fingerprinting ?

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It was 5 years ago, arrested and thrown out before reaching court...this situation is like a shadow over me. I was very happy as I am sure you were, to get the arrest expunged...only to find out it really has the potential to wreck a career in nursing. Thank you for your responses!

Also I forgot to ask- even though you had an expunction in progress did you tick 'yes' to having an arrest previously?

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3 minutes ago, Firefly384 said:

It was 5 years ago, arrested and thrown out before reaching court...this situation is like a shadow over me. I was very happy as I am sure you were, to get the arrest expunged...only to find out it really has the potential to wreck a career in nursing. Thank you for your responses!

Also I forgot to ask- even though you had an expunction in progress did you tick 'yes' to having an arrest previously?

I never had to fill out the DO so I never had to tell them anything about my background. You don't automatically do the DO, only if they ask for one. When you get your fingerprinting, they just verify your identity. No background questions.

On my school application, they asked if I had ever been arrested and I checked yes because it was before the judge signed my expungement order. I just noted the situation and said that I was in the process of getting it expunged. No issues there either.

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Just now, BriD-6 said:

I never had to fill out the DO so I never had to tell them anything about my background. You don't automatically do the DO, only if they ask for one. When you get your fingerprinting, they just verify your identity. No background questions.

On my school application, they asked if I had ever been arrested and I checked yes because it was before the judge signed my expungement order. I just noted the situation and said that I was in the process of getting it expunged. No issues there either.

Ok thank you really appreciate the information. I'll report back here regardless of the news when the time comes. Never had any issues like this being a paramedic lol...

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