SECTION 3.153. Deferred Adjudication

(a) For purposes of §3.27 and §3.149 of this chapter (relating to Provisional Licensure and Criminal Convictions), a person is not convicted for committing a criminal offense if:

(1) the person entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere;

(2) the court deferred further proceedings without entering an adjudication of guilt and placed the person under the supervision of the court or an officer of the court; and

(3) at the conclusion of a period of supervision, the judge dismissed the proceedings and discharged the person.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, the executive director or the Board may consider a person to have been convicted of a criminal offense regardless of whether the proceedings were dismissed and the person was discharged as described by subsection (a) of this section if:

(1) the person was charged with:

(A) any offense described by Article 62.001(5), Code of Criminal Procedure; or

(B) an offense other than an offense described by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph if:

(i) the person has not completed the period of supervision or the person completed the period of supervision less than five years before the date the person applied for registration; or

(ii) a conviction for the offense would make the person ineligible for registration by operation of law; and

(2) after consideration of the factors described by §3.149(c) or (d) of this chapter, the executive director or the Board determines that:

(A) the person may pose a continued threat to the public; or

(B) employment of the person as a Landscape Architect would create a situation in which the person has an opportunity to repeat the prohibited conduct.

(c) If a person pleads guilty or nolo contendere to conduct which is a violation of a law enforced by the Board, regardless of whether adjudication is deferred, the Board may take disciplinary action.

Source Note: The provisions of this §3.153 adopted to be effective November 29, 2010, 35 TexReg 10507; amended to be effective July 8, 2020, 45 TexReg 4515