Your Civil Rights


Being placed on community supervision affects your civil rights. So that you are informed, the Palo Pinto County CSCD provides the following information to you.



Right to Privacy

The conditions of community supervision limit, to some extent, your right to privacy. You are required to allow the Community Supervision Officer (CSO) to visit you at your home or elsewhere and to provide specific personal information that is requested of you that pertains to your rehabilitation and/or the protection of the public. This does not mean that the CSO can enter your residence at will or at any hour (unless you are on home confinement, electronic monitoring, surveillance supervision or the CSO is ordered to do so by the Court). The fact that you are on community supervision is a matter of public record, and the CSCD is allowed to reveal to the public that you are on community supervision, your offense, and the length of your supervision period.

Right to Vote

If you are charged with or are on community supervision or deferred adjudication for a misdemeanor offense or on deferred adjudication for a felony offense, your voting rights are not affected and you can continue to vote while on supervision.

However, if you are on regular or shock community supervision for a felony offense in which you were convicted, you lose the right to vote until you have been discharged from completion of supervision or confinement. Upon discharge, your right to vote is immediately restored, unless your offense was DWI-related. If your offense was DWI-related (Felony DWI, Involuntary Manslaughter, Intoxication Manslaughter or a State Jail Felony), you will have a two year waiting period before your right to vote is restored.

Right to Serve on Jury

If you are on community supervision for a misdemeanor offense, you remain eligible to run for public office.

If your supervision is for a felony in which you received deferred adjudication, you remain eligible to be a candidate for public office, as you have no final felony conviction.

If on community supervision for an offense in which you received a felony conviction, you are not eligible to be a candidate for public office. To become eligible, you would have to be pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities of conviction.

Right to Hold Public Office

If you are on community supervision for a misdemeanor offense, you remain eligible to run for public office.

If your supervision is for a felony in which you received deferred adjudication, you remain eligible to be a candidate for public office, as you have no final felony conviction.

If on community supervision for an offense in which you received a felony conviction, you are not eligible to be a candidate for public office. To become eligible, you would have to be pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities of conviction.

Right to Keep and Bear Arms

If you are placed on community supervision for a misdemeanor offense, your right to keep and bear firearms is not affected, unless the misdemeanor was for an offense of domestic violence (i.e., Assault Involving Family Violence).

If you received deferred adjudication supervision, you may possess any firearm or ammunition that you owned or received prior to being placed on supervision (Unless your offense is for any drug charge, any related drug charge, you were under the influence of drugs when you committed the offense, or are a substance abuser, then you are prohibited from possessing any firearm or ammunition.). In any case, you are prohibited from purchasing, shipping or transporting any firearm or ammunition (explosive devices) while under supervision. Upon successful completion of your supervision term and dismissal of the indictment against you by the Court, you would no longer be considered to be under any disabilities of conviction imposed by State law.

State law prohibits anyone placed on community supervision that has been convicted of a felony or of an assault punishable as a Class A misdemeanor and involving a member of the person’s family or household from possessing a firearm after conviction and before the fifth anniversary of the person’s release from community supervision or confinement. If your conviction was for a felony DWI, Involuntary Manslaughter, Intoxication Manslaughter or a State Jail felony, you would have to have the disabilities of conviction removed before lifting of the prohibition.

To have the disabilities of conviction removed from you by the State, you must have your conviction expunged, set aside, pardoned, or have your civil rights restored by the State by petitioning the court to allow you to withdraw your plea or have the trial court set aside the verdict and obtain from the Court an order dismissing the charge against you or receive a full pardon from the Governor.

Federal law prohibits anyone placed on community supervision that has been indicted or convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year or who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to ship, transport or receive a firearm or ammunition (explosive device).

To have the disabilities of conviction removed from you at the Federal level, you must apply for a release (Application For Relief) through the local office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division of the U. S. Department of the Treasury.

March 2024
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