I was a bad kid... :)

[recrisp]

Thank you for that, Crossfire, that gives me the confidence that I may see a light at the end of this tunnel. :)
Really, it'd be nice if someone could make this information, along with other information that would apply in a Sticky, I know some of it is, but that's where I looked for the contact info and I didn't see it.
I am really surprised that in this day and time I would have to go downtown personally, I have been doing stuff online for so long, I am now spoiled, I guess... heheh (At least I only have to go to one place, not several court clerks)

Thanks again, AND, to ALL that help us (that don't know) try and figure out the stuff that's so new to us. :)

Randy

[SC-Texas]

I get calls like this once a week on average.

Best way to look into it is to go to the county district clerks office.

Ask them to do a criminal background check on you.

Ask the to find the file. Get a copy of the dismissal if there is one.

In your case. If they released you after one night . . . . There will probably be no criminal file at the clerks office.

Might go to the arresting agency and ask them for a copy of the file if they even have it.

[recrisp]

Today I actually (finally!) went to the County Clerk's building to get what I needed, and I have to say, I hope that nobody has to go through all of this crap very often, it is a real ordeal.
I called ahead and asked directions, once I was inside, I got to the Misdemeanor window pretty quick. I was then told to go and pay for the misdemeanor search around the corner past some doors, and inside another office, which I did...
I then had to go back to where I had originally went to get my search, which cost me $5.00.

After talking with the clerk behind the counter I found out that I needed to get my Felony search at another window around the corner, down the hall, and inside of another office, which I did. I talked to that lady, (They were all actually pretty nice) I was told I needed to go to another window to pay, which was out the door, down the hall, inside of an office behind some larger swinging doors, which I did, that's another $5.00. After I had paid, I had to go back to the first felony office I had gone to and they gave me my search papers.
The bad deal is, this search I found out only went back as far as 1973, my (supposed) felony in question was back in 1970, so the lady behind the counter was confused... SHE was confused? :) I had no idea what was going on, it was crazy at this building, I have to say. Anyway, I explained that I was arrested, but was let go after spending the night in the County Jail after the Police found the actual suspect, so I had no court, no judge, no nothing, and I needed that paper that said I was innocent. She said that she had to talk to her supervisor to see what they could do. Now, I know that I can't be the only person that has gone through this, but it sure appeared that way... :) So, she comes back after about maybe 8 minutes have gone by and said that this piece of paper had what I needed and that I needed to check the spelling of my name and birth date, it was all correct, and I was told that was all there was to it. This (manual) search went back as far as 1950, 2 years before I was born, so I was safe there, I didn't start to get into trouble that early... heheh
All of this happened in the period of 30 minutes, but it seemed a lot longer, especially with the idjit woman standing in line that was talking loudly on her cell phone that had the loudest and most obnoxious ring tone, and even with the sign that was within 4 feet of her on the wall that specifically says, "No Cell Phones"...

We had to struggle to even get to our car which was a struggle to get a parking space for in the first place.
What I am trying to say is, this entire place is a nightmare, after only 15 minutes it was clear to me that if they let me tell them a few ways to makes things work a little more streamlined, it would help them, but, oh well... If they had it to where you didn't have to go from one office to another, just to pay, then go and pay for another really similar thing in another office it would help immensely to speed the process up, but I am sure that those that make these decisions like it the way it is. This makes the DMV seem tame, I am not kidding.
(This reminds me of when I had my pick-up stolen and had to go to the Dallas Auto Pound, that is one place that you never want to go to in your life, it is not only a zoo, it is a real nightmare. Never in my life have I seen so many screw-ups in my life, plus, they treat EVERYONE like a criminal, you have zero rights, even though it is your vehicle that was stolen)

So, on the way home it dawns on me that while I did buy the misdemeanor search, they didn't explain to me that it only went back to 1975, not 1973 like the other one, and that one was not far enough back. It clearly stated on the letter I received that told me I needed to go to the County Clerks office, so this was 'probably' important...
When I got home I called the Texas Department of Public Safety (TDPS)and talked to a very helpful lady, I explained the ordeal, and she said that she had heard it was a "nightmare" up there at the County Clerks offices, her words, not mine. :)
She said that I needed to go back down there and get the deeper search done for the misdemeanor, to make it go to the correct year, I said I really, REALLY didn't want to do that, so I read the letter to her that was sent to me about what I needed to do. Her take on it was that I should just send what I had, meaning the correct felony search, AND the incorrect misdemeanor search, even though it did not have the deeper search done past the year 1975. Yeah, I know, I am thinking the same, but, actually, the letter does state that they only wanted the "felony search" done, so that is what they're getting.

I may be screwing up, but I will say, I will have to have a few drinks before I go back down there again, and I don't even drink. :)

The reason this is SO LONG is that I wanted to hopefully let others know what they may run into, it is not a greased wheel atmosphere, it is a rusty, dilapidated, archaic place that needs to severely update their systems, train their people a little better, and streamline the entire process. The TDPS is no different, when I asked the lady on the phone if I was to mail the information I got today, fax it, or like I did with the rest of my CHL stuff, e-mail it. She said that I 'could' e-mail it, but she would not advise that, it was best to snail mail it or FAX it, which it really crazy if you ask me. Both of the documents I am to send in have state of Texas seals on them, so if I FAX it, the smeary looking copy they will receive would not be that legible. If I mail it, I need to mail the original, (I think) but an e-mail would give a very good representation of what it looks like. So, they too need to update their ways of going about it all, it is the digital age, after all.

Anyway, no matter what happens I will send it in the snail mail in the morning, then see what happens.

So the moral, you ask? The moral is, when some (here) tells you to go down to the County Clerk's Office, Do It! If you don't, you are only wasting your time, like I did, and believe me, you do not want to wait a month (or more) to only find out that you still have to go and have the searches done.
Be like them, not like me... heheh

Randy

[recrisp]

Just a quick update on this, in case it helps someone in the future...

I just called the Dallas County District Clerk's Office and asked about why they didn't include any misdemeanor before 1975, I was told that all of the records were destroyed and that it starts from that point on. To me, that is worrisome because I am afraid that they TDPS will want it anyway, so I asked if they had a manual background check they could do like they did in the felony background check, it turns out they do not have a way to go back, ALL records were destroyed.
The lady I talked to was fairly nice, so I asked her is there any way that they could have a letter saying that, so I won't (later) be asked for that information, she said, "Yes, we have a letter that we can give you". That gave me hope, I was feeling a lot better. I was switched to another person, he said, "No, we don't do that, there is no information at all, I don't know why you were told that"... Well, that is good, if that is true, and I can only go by what I am told, but one says one thing, while another says something else, which like i said in the above post, they are really screwed up down there. :)
Also, the search that was done yesterday for me on the misdemeanors only went back to 1975, this guy I just talked to on the phone said they go only back as far as 1974, so again, another discrepancy.

I guess I will just send this in as I have it now, only going back to 1975, I may insert a note along with this stuff explaining what I was told, but that may also set the wheels in motion for slowing things down, either way I go about any of this can get screwed up.

I hope that this helps someone, I wish I had foreseen all of this when I started this, I realize that I was told about a lot of this, but to actually experience it is another thing. :)

After this is all over I will come back and post what happens, somebody has to learn from all of this. :)

Randy

[Mike S]

Recrisp,
Stay the course, & continue to provide the DPS with all of the information that they ask of you, WITHIN the time limit that they give you to respond with it. In the end, you will either receive your CHL, or they will deny it. (Since they're not jerks, its not likely that they're going to deny it unless there's more to the story that they dig up).

If they deny your application, you will receive a letter in the mail from them stating such, & advising you that you have 30-days to appeal their decision. They MUST receive your request for an administrative hearing within that 30-day period (ie, in their hands, not postmarked by...). At that point, they will schedule your hearing to be held within 60-days at the county magistrate/Justice of the Peace near you (so you won't need to travel to Austin). That judge will serve as the administrative hearing officer, & will make the decision regarding your application based on a preponderance of the evidence (ie, more likely than not you're qualified, or not). You, or the DPS, can appeal this decision within 30 days, else it becomes final. (This is all on pages 12-13 of the CHL Handbook (CHL-16) that you can download from the DPS' website, or Google GC ss411.180. Notification of Denial, Revocation, or Suspension).

So stay the course, & keep on providing them the supporting documentation as best you can. I had a client once with a juvenile felony for burglary or some such (then he grew up & eventially became the Principal of a school, mentoring kids to not do dumb stuff...). He disclosed this to the DPS during his application, & after a bit of continued correspondence similar to your situation he was approved. I believe his took about 90-days from completing his application until finally receiving his CHL.

[recrisp]

It's pretty much a done deal, I think. (See my last post) I have already sent the required letters to the appropriate place, so now it's a waiting game. :)

In my denial letter, they stated that I have a certain amount of time to get it all squared away, but, after I called the Department of Public Safety, it was extended another 30 days. The person I talked with was pretty nice, so that helped, I have ran into "jerks" before though, in all kinds of government buildings, so they are out there, just like us regular humans. :)

I'm sure that with enough diligence one can get it all done the way you describe, but if this doesn't work, I won't worry about it, I'll just blow it off. The reason I say this is, I really only want it for when I am out doing photography, I sometimes tend to run into strange people on occasion, since I can legally carry in my vehicle and have a gun at home, I'm covered there.

Thank you for the help, hopefully it'll help someone that has the same problems that I had/have, certain little things that can cause one to stumble in the process can be easily remedied if the knowledge is there. :)

Randy

[recrisp]

Well, the last of the updates, I am glad to say!

I received my card yesterday, so now it's all a done deal, for sure.
That means that 'this time' I got a letter from DPS it contained what I needed, AND, this only took 9 working days from the time I sent the information to them, if not 8...
The last time it was closer to a month and a half before I received the 'empty' letter without a card. So, they can do it fast, but the gods and the planets all have to be, 'just right', I guess. heheh

So let this post be a lesson top you that have have some kind of a past, even if it is not so shady, do what I (finally) did, go to the town where you got the jail time/misdemeanor/whatever and go from there , it saves a LOT of time. :)

Randy

[RoyGBiv]

Congrats and thanks for the insight into your journey.

[recrisp]

Thank you, AND, thanks to ALL of you that helped me figure this out, I honestly could not have done this without the help that I received. :)

Randy

[allisji]

Wow, you really went through a lot. It says a lot about you that you kept at it even when you were discouraged. Hopefully other good guys like you will be encouraged to keep up the good fight.

The DPS did the right thing, just took them awhile... You'd think that the courthouses should know exactly what reports the DPS is asking for and should be ready and willing to run the searches. Surely these reports can be standardized.

[TexasJohnBoy]

congrats and welcome to the club!

[SewTexas]

[recrisp]

Wow, you really went through a lot. It says a lot about you that you kept at it even when you were discouraged. Hopefully other good guys like you will be encouraged to keep up the good fight.

The DPS did the right thing, just took them awhile... You'd think that the courthouses should know exactly what reports the DPS is asking for and should be ready and willing to run the searches. Surely these reports can be standardized.

I did go through a lot, but had I listened in the very beginning, I wouldn't have had as bad of a time. :)

I was, and still am surprised that IF DPS can see that I had 'something' on my record that they couldn't see more, but that's the way 'red tape' works, I guess... heheh
Hopefully others will learn from my mistakes, etc.

Thank you for commenting, and I am sorry I didn't reply sooner.

Randy

[recrisp]

congrats and welcome to the club!

Thank you, TJB!

Randy

[recrisp]

I feel the same way! heheheh
Thanks to you also!

Randy