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Hi. We are starting our homestudy this week. I was arrested 9 years ago for public intox and disorderly conduct. I have been up front with the agency and plan to tell our SW about it first thing. I have almost all my paperwork ready but I have read you need certain papers for any arrests and would like to get a head start on these. Could someone let me know what I need and where to get it? I'm assuming this will all show up on my record even though I was never fingerprinted and only had to pay a fine. It was a stupid mistake made when I was very young.Thanks in advance for any info. Sonja
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You will need to get a clerk certified copy of your court records from the court in which your case came up. The court record may be referred to by a docket number. Call the town/county clerk's office and explain to them what you need. You may get transferrred several times and given other numbers to call. You will usually be charged a small fee - slightly higher for a certified copy with the raised clerk's seal, but get it because this is the best. My husband had a DWI many years ago and every time we have applied to adopt, we have had to get a certified copy of the court records.
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I did call the courthouse and talked with them. The problem is this is a very small town and my arrest was pre-computer days, so there is no record of it anywhere there. They mailed me a certified letter stating "a records check obtained no pending charges or payments due" Think this will do? Thanks......................................
[font=Arial Black]I know several people(my Father is one of them) who had non-violent felonies that do NOT show up on ANY record ANYWHERE. Many things that happen on a town & county level before they computerized their system do not show up anywhere, Incuding the FBI databases.[/font]
[font=Arial Black]We were worried what would happen since my Father is going to be living me 5-6 months out of the year and will be around when I do my homestudy next fall. [/font][font=Arial Black]I called a local Social Worker here in East Texas who does international adoption homestudies all of the time..she said to be up front about it with the SW who came out...but not to worry about getting any kind of proof from Colorado(where my Father was convicted) until we found out if it popped up on the fingerprinting. We now know that it will NOT show up on his fingerprinting and aren't worried about it at all.[/font][font=Arial Black]I don't know where you live, but I know here in Texas, misdemenors like the one you are talking about are NOT entered into the State Database(and therefore NOT reported to the Feds) if you were picked up by the Local City Police and just pay a fine...[/font][font=Arial Black]Texas also only requires that files be kept for 7 years...so anything case older then that just disappear...of course I am talking about cases that were taken care of with a fine only..Jail time and bigger offenses have different reporting and tracking rules...[/font][font=Arial Black]SO with ALL that said...lol Call your Agency and talk to one of their SW's and find out what they recommend...AND DON'T STRESS OVER IT!!![/font][font=Arial Black]BEST of LUCK!!!![/font]
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