Deferred Adjudication and Sex Offender Registration in Texas: What a Plea Offer in a Collin County Case Can Carry

A plea offer for deferred adjudication can sound like the way out of a sex offense case. There is no finding of guilt, and if the person completes supervision, the judge dismisses the case. Those parts are true.

What the offer does not say on its face is that Texas counts deferred adjudication for sex offender registration. For several charges the duty to register lasts for life, long after the supervision and the dismissal are over.

If this is your situation right now: there is an offer on the table in a Collin County sex offense case, or one is expected soon. Registration needs to be understood before a plea is entered. Kent Starr handles sex offense cases in Collin County and takes the consultation himself. It is free and confidential. Call (214) 982-1408.

Deferred adjudication counts for registration

Registration under Chapter 62 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure follows a “reportable conviction or adjudication,” and Article 62.001(5) defines that term to include “a deferred adjudication.” For registration purposes, a person placed on deferred adjudication for a listed offense stands in the same place as a person convicted of it.

The list is long. Some of the offenses on it:

• Continuous sexual abuse of a young child or disabled individual (Penal Code Section 21.02) and continuous sexual abuse (Section 21.03)
• Indecency with a child (Section 21.11)
• Invasive visual recording (Section 21.15), for an offense committed on or after September 1, 2025
• Sexual assault (Section 22.011) and aggravated sexual assault (Section 22.021)
• Online solicitation of a minor (Section 33.021)
• Sexual performance by a child (Section 43.25)
• Possession or promotion of child pornography (Section 43.26)

Chapter 62 does carve deferred adjudication out in a few narrow places, such as a second indecent exposure offense. There is no carve-out for any of the offenses above.

Registration also begins during the supervision. Under Chapter 62, being placed on community supervision counts as a release, so a person placed on deferred adjudication for a registration offense must register with local law enforcement where they live no later than the seventh day after being placed on supervision, or after moving to a new home (Articles 62.001(4), 62.051, and 62.053). Article 42A.451 also makes registration a condition of the supervision. A lapse can therefore lead to both a failure to register charge and a motion to adjudicate guilt.

Who can receive deferred adjudication in a sex offense case

For indecency with a child, sexual assault, and aggravated sexual assault, Article 42A.102(a) allows deferred adjudication “only if the judge makes a finding in open court that placing the defendant on deferred adjudication community supervision is in the best interest of the victim.” The same finding is required for a felony described by Article 42A.453(b), a list that also includes sexual performance by a child and possession or promotion of child pornography.

Article 42A.102(b) takes deferred adjudication off the table entirely in some cases. It is not available for continuous sexual abuse under Section 21.02 or 21.03. It is not available for aggravated sexual assault punishable under Section 22.021(f), the provision that raises the minimum to 25 years, or under the repeat offender provisions of Section 12.42(c)(3) or (4). And under Article 42A.102(b)(2), it is not available to a person charged with indecency with a child, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual performance by a child, possession or promotion of child pornography, or another offense on that subsection’s list, who has previously been placed on community supervision for any offense on the same list.

A few more rules shape what the offer means:

• Length. Felony deferred adjudication generally can last up to 10 years. For indecency with a child, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, and the felonies listed in Article 42A.453(b), which include sexual performance by a child and possession or promotion of child pornography, Article 42A.103(a) says it may not be less than five years. For indecency with a child, sexual assault, and aggravated sexual assault, Article 42A.757 also lets a judge, after a hearing and specific findings about public safety, extend supervision once by up to 10 more years.
• No early dismissal. In other cases, a judge may dismiss a deferred adjudication case before the term runs out. Article 42A.111(b) says a judge may not do that for a person charged with an offense requiring registration.
• Conditions. For offenses on the Article 42A.453(b) list, when the judge determines that the person named as the victim was younger than 17, Article 42A.453(c) requires a child safety zone as a condition of supervision. The person may not supervise or take part in youth athletic, civic, or cultural programs or go within 1,000 feet of places where children commonly gather, such as schools and playgrounds, and must attend sex offender counseling. Under Article 42A.453(d), a judge does not have to impose the program and distance conditions on a primary or secondary school student.
• If it is not completed. When a judge later proceeds to adjudicate guilt, Article 42A.110(a) says the proceedings, including the assessment of punishment, continue “as if the adjudication of guilt had not been deferred.” The punishment range for the original charge is back in play.

How long registration lasts

Article 62.101 sets the duration. For most adult cases there are two main tracks. A case transferred from juvenile court under Family Code Section 54.02 follows a different rule in Article 62.101(b).

For life. Unless a court grants an exemption or early termination under the narrow processes covered below, the duty to register ends when the person dies if the reportable conviction or adjudication is for a “sexually violent offense” or for certain other listed offenses. Under Article 62.001(6), a sexually violent offense includes these, when committed by someone 17 or older: continuous sexual abuse under Section 21.02 or 21.03, indecency with a child by contact under Section 21.11(a)(1), sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, and sexual performance by a child. Possession or promotion of child pornography under Section 43.26 is also on the lifetime list. Indecency with a child by exposure under Section 21.11(a)(2) becomes lifetime if the person has another reportable conviction or adjudication, not counting a juvenile adjudication, whether it came before or after.

Ten years, counted from the later date. For other reportable offenses, such as online solicitation of a minor, Article 62.101(c)(2) says the duty ends on the 10th anniversary of the date the court dismisses the case and discharges the person, the date of release from a penal institution, or the date the person discharges community supervision, “whichever date is later.”

A ten-year registration period on a deferred adjudication does not start at the plea. A person on five years of deferred adjudication for a ten-year offense registers during those five years, and then for ten more years after the discharge.

Reporting once a year, or every 90 days

Most registrants verify their registration in person once a year. Article 62.058(a-1) sets that window at no earlier than 30 days before and no later than 30 days after the person’s birthday.

Article 62.058(a) sets a stricter schedule, at least once in each 90-day period, for a person who for a sexually violent offense has “been convicted two or more times, received an order of deferred adjudication two or more times, or been convicted and received an order of deferred adjudication.”

So the number of counts in a plea can matter as much as the name of the charge. Under Subsection (e), two deferred adjudication orders for sexually violent offenses place a person on the 90-day schedule even if both were entered on the same date or arose out of the same criminal transaction, and as the next section explains, that also changes the level of any failure to register charge.

A registrant who plans to move must also report in person no later than the seventh day before the move (Article 62.055(a)). Registration information in the state database is public under Article 62.005(b), with limited exceptions.

Failure to register is its own felony

Article 62.102 makes it an offense for a person who is required to register to fail “to comply with any requirement of this chapter.” The level of the offense depends on the registration track:

• A state jail felony for a person whose duty to register ends after a ten-year period
• A third-degree felony for a lifetime registrant who verifies once a year
• A second-degree felony for a lifetime registrant who verifies every 90 days

A prior conviction for failure to register raises the offense to the next level (Article 62.102(c)).

Every requirement has to be followed exactly for as long as the duty lasts. If a requirement is unclear, ask a lawyer before the deadline, not after it.

Can registration end early?

For an adult case, Chapter 62 has two narrow court processes, and in both the statute says the court “may” grant relief.

The young adult exemption (Article 62.301). A person may petition for an order exempting them from registration if the person is required to register only because of a single reportable conviction or adjudication, and the judge entered an affirmative finding under Article 42.017 or 42A.105(c). That finding exists only for indecency with a child and sexual assault. For a deferred adjudication, Article 42A.105(c) requires the judge to enter that finding if the judge determines that, at the time of the offense, the defendant was not more than four years older than the person named as the victim, that this person was at least 15, and that the charge “is based solely on the ages of the defendant and the victim or intended victim at the time of the offense.” A person convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for either offense before September 1, 2011 may also petition, but the court may consider that petition only if it finds the person would have been entitled to the finding.

After a hearing, the court may grant the exemption if it appears by a preponderance of the evidence that the exemption does not threaten public safety, that the conduct did not occur without consent as described in Section 22.011(b), that the exemption is “in the best interest of the victim or intended victim,” and that it is in the best interest of justice. The court may consider testimony from the person named as the victim in the case, or from a member of that person’s family. The order does not expire, but the court must withdraw it if the person later receives another reportable conviction or adjudication.

Early termination (Articles 62.401 through 62.408). The Department of Public Safety publishes a list of reportable offenses for which Texas requires registration for longer than the minimum period under federal law. A person with a single reportable conviction or adjudication on that list can request an individual risk assessment from the Council on Sex Offender Treatment, then file a motion for early termination in the trial court. The court may deny the motion without a hearing, and the person pays the costs.

Neither process is a reason to accept an offer on the belief that registration will go away later.

What the dismissal does not undo

Article 42A.111(c) says a dismissal and discharge after deferred adjudication generally may not be considered a conviction “for the purposes of disqualifications or disabilities imposed by law for conviction of an offense.” Several parts of Texas law work differently in a sex offense case.

Record sealing. Government Code Section 411.074(b)(1)(A) bars an order of nondisclosure for “an offense requiring registration as a sex offender under Chapter 62.” The same provision also bars a nondisclosure for any other offense if the person has been previously convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for a registration offense. The dismissal-based expunction route is closed too, because Article 55A.051 limits it to cases with no court-ordered community supervision under Chapter 42A for the offense, other than for a Class C misdemeanor.

A future case. Penal Code Section 12.42(c)(2) requires a life sentence for a conviction of certain sex offenses, including sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, and indecency with a child by contact, when the person has a previous conviction for an offense on a second list, which includes those same offenses and possession or promotion of child pornography under Section 43.26. Section 12.42(g)(1) says that for this rule, a person has been previously convicted if they entered a plea of guilty or no contest “in return for a grant of deferred adjudication,” even if they were later discharged.

Certain jobs. When a judge places a person on deferred adjudication for a sexually violent offense and determines that the person named as the victim was younger than 14, Article 42A.105(a) requires an affirmative finding in the case papers. Article 62.063 bars a registrant with that finding from certain paid work, including operating a bus and providing unsupervised services in another person’s home.

Questions to have answered before any plea

Before any plea in a sex offense case, the offer has to be read against Chapter 62. Questions that need clear answers:

• What exact offense and subsection is the plea to, and is it on the lifetime track or the ten-year track?
• How many counts are in the plea, and would they place the person on the 90-day verification schedule?
• How long is the deferred term, and when would a ten-year registration period actually end?
• Will the case papers include an affirmative finding under Article 42A.105, and what does that finding change?

Talking to a Collin County defense lawyer

Kent Starr has practiced criminal defense in Collin County since 1997. He handles sex offense cases, including indecency with a child and child pornography charges, and he does every consultation himself.

If an offer is on the table, or you expect one, talk it through with a defense lawyer before any plea is entered. The consultation is free and confidential. Call (214) 982-1408.

This article is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice, and every case turns on its own facts.

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References

• Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 62 (Sex Offender Registration Program)
• Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 42A (Community Supervision)
• Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 42.017 (Finding Regarding Age-Based Offense)
• Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 55A.051 (Expunction, Applicability of Subchapter B)
• Texas Government Code, Section 411.074 (Required Conditions for Receiving an Order of Nondisclosure)
• Texas Penal Code, Section 12.42 (Penalties for Repeat and Habitual Felony Offenders)
• Texas Penal Code, Section 21.11 (Indecency with a Child)
• Texas Penal Code, Sections 22.011 (Sexual Assault) and 22.021 (Aggravated Sexual Assault)
• Texas Penal Code, Sections 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a Child) and 43.26 (Possession or Promotion of Child Pornography)

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