In general, individuals who were convicted in a Texas court are eligible to apply for deregistration. If you were convicted in a federal or military court, even if it was in Texas, you are usually not eligible to deregister. Also, if you were convicted in an state other than Texas, you are usually not eligible to deregister. If you have a federal, military, or out of state conviction, and you still want to try to deregister, you have a legal problem, so you should contact an attorney. See the “Links” page of this website to contact an attorney who specializes in deregistration. DO NOT CONTACT DEREGISTERTEXAS about legal questions. We are not attorneys and we do not give legal advice.
If you were convicted (includes deferred adjudication) of a child pornography offense, you will be rated on three risk instruments: Matrix 2000, Psychopathic Personality Inventory – Revised, and Level of Service Case Management Inventory. If you were convicted (includes deferred adjudication) of any sex crime other than a child pornography offense, you will be rated on these three risk instruments: Static-2002, Psychopathic Personality Inventory – Revised, and Level of Service Case Management Inventory.
In order to be eligible to deregister, you cannot be rated a high risk on any of the risk assessment instruments. You can be rated as medium risk on all of the risk instruments and you would still be able to deregister. On the other hand, if you are rated as high risk on any one of these instruments, even if you are rated as a low risk on the other two, you cannot deregister. See the table below for the risk ratings for each of the risk assessment instruments.
| Risk Category | Static-2002 | Matrix 2000 | Psychopathic Personality Inventory – Revised | Level Service Case Management Inventory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | 9 and higher | “High” or “Very High” | Total Score t-score 65 or higher | 20 or higher |
| Med | 3 to 8 | “Medium” | N/A | 11 to 19 |
| Low | 0 to 2 | “Low” | Total Score t-score less than 65 | 0 to 10 |
Deregistration is designed for people who have been convicted of a sex offense. This includes deferred adjudication. You do not have to be innocent of your sex crime in order to deregister. When you are participating in the deregistration evaluation, it is best to admit to your sex offense. If you deny, minimize, or blame, it could hurt your chances of deregistering.
Some registrants think that deregistration is based upon hardship. For example, these registrants think that if registration causes them personal, family, or financial problems, they will be let off the registry. This is not true. In order to qualify for deregistration, you must meet the risk criteria for deregistration.
The Texas Legislature would never do anything to decrease public safety. As seen by the risk criteria in the table above, only high risk sex offenders will remain on the public registry. The individuals least likely to commit a new sex offense are allowed to deregister.