Travis County Offense Guide
Expunging Assault — Family Violence in Travis County
How a family violence charge gets erased through the Austin courts — eligibility, local filing practice, and why it's worth doing.
Statute
Tex. Penal Code § 22.01; Tex. Fam. Code § 71.004
Offense level
Class A misdemeanor to felony, with enhanced consequences
About the charge
Assault involving a family member, household member, or dating partner carries a 'family violence' designation that follows the case everywhere. These charges are filed aggressively — often on an officer's mandatory-arrest judgment call during a chaotic scene — and a large share are later dismissed when the full picture emerges.
Texas treats family violence records more severely than almost any other misdemeanor: an affirmative finding of family violence permanently bars sealing, enhances future charges to felonies, and federally prohibits firearm possession after conviction.
Where your case gets cleared in Travis County
Travis County expunctions are filed in the district courts in downtown Austin, with criminal matters centered at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center. Felonies run through the district courts and misdemeanors through the County Courts at Law, with the County Attorney prosecuting most misdemeanors.
Austin-area records typically involve the Austin Police Department, the Travis County Sheriff's Office, UT and other university police departments for campus-area arrests, and DPS — a mix that makes a complete agency list especially important in this county.
Local practice notes
Travis County prosecutors have for years declined most low-level marijuana possession cases, and Austin voters codified non-enforcement policies for small amounts — which means Travis County holds an unusually large pool of declined and dismissed cases that qualify for expunction. The county's courts also see heavy volumes of student-related Class C offenses (MIP, public intoxication) that are quick, inexpensive expunctions.
Can a family violence charge be expunged?
Like nearly every Texas offense, eligibility turns on how the case ended. An arrest for this charge is generally expungable under Chapter 55A of the Code of Criminal Procedure if:
- The charge was dismissed and the applicable waiting or limitations period has passed
- You were acquitted at trial
- A grand jury declined to indict (felony no-bill)
- You were arrested but never charged, once the waiting period runs
- You completed a Class C deferred disposition and the charge was dismissed
Here's what makes expunction critical for these cases: because a family-violence record can never be sealed with a nondisclosure order — even after successful deferred adjudication — expunction of a dismissed, no-billed, or acquitted charge is the only path to a clean record. If your case was dismissed and the limitations period has run (or the dismissal shows a lack of probable cause), the arrest can be erased entirely. If you're offered deferred adjudication on a family-violence case that could be beaten, that trade-off deserves very careful thought.
If expunction isn't available: sealing
Not available. Texas law excludes any offense with a family-violence finding from nondisclosure — including completed deferred adjudication. This is the harshest sealing exclusion in the statute and the reason dismissed cases should always be expunged. Learn how orders of nondisclosure work →
Why clearing this record matters
A family violence record is uniquely destructive: it appears in custody and divorce proceedings, triggers the federal firearm ban if it ripens into a conviction, bars many housing applications, and reads as the most serious possible misdemeanor to any employer. For a charge that was dismissed, leaving the arrest on your record means carrying all of that stigma for something the state chose not to prosecute.
Common questions
My family violence case was dismissed. Why do I need to act?
Because the arrest remains public and — uniquely — can never be sealed, only expunged. Expunction is the single available remedy, and it erases the record completely.
I completed deferred adjudication on a family violence case. Can it be cleared?
Unfortunately, no. Deferred adjudication with a family-violence finding is excluded from both expunction and nondisclosure. We can review your judgment to confirm whether a family-violence finding was actually entered — sometimes it wasn't, which changes the analysis.
Does a dismissed family violence arrest affect gun purchases?
A dismissed charge is not a conviction and doesn't trigger the federal ban, but the arrest can still surface in background investigations and cause delays or denials — another reason to expunge it.
Austin stopped enforcing low-level marijuana laws. Is my old arrest gone?
No — policy changes don't erase existing records. Your old arrest or dismissed case remains public until a court orders it expunged, and it likely qualifies.
I got an MIP near UT campus years ago. How hard is that to clear?
Usually one of the easiest: alcohol offenses committed as a minor have a dedicated expunction route once you turn 21, and dismissed or deferred Class C citations clear quickly.
Statewide guide
Assault — Family Violence expunction in Texas →
County guide
All Travis County expunctions →
Disclaimer: This page is general legal information about Texas law, not legal advice about your case, and reading it does not create an attorney‑client relationship. Eligibility depends on the complete details of your criminal history — get a free case review for a definitive answer.
Clear a family violence charge in Travis County
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