Concealed Handgun License Eligibility and Deferred Adjudication

Another warning about deferred adjudication—it can jeopardize your eligibility to obtain a concealed handgun license in Texas.

Accepting deferred adjudication in certain situations will make you ineligible to obtain a concealed handgun license. In fact, DPS considers deferred adjudication a conviction when evaluating a CHL application.

First, for felonies: a person cannot apply for a CHL if he has a felony deferred adjudication for offenses against a person, including murder, manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, kidnapping, sexual assault, indecency with a child, aggravated assault and robbery.

For all other felonies, like property or drug crimes, the deferred adjudication must have started ten years before the date one applies for a CHL.

For misdemeanors, one cannot have a deferred adjudication for a Class A, Class B, or for a Class C disorderly conduct for five years before applying for a CHL.

DPS also prohibits applicants from having two or substance related offenses in the ten year period before asking for a license. So if a person has a DWI conviction and a deferred adjudication for possession of a controlled substance in the last ten years, he cannot apply for a CHL.