How to Get a Texas TDLR Criminal History Evaluation Letter

If you have a criminal record and want to know whether it will block a Texas license before you spend money on tuition or exams, you can ask the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation for a Texas TDLR Criminal History Evaluation Letter. You submit a request form, a questionnaire for each offense on your record, and a $10 fee. TDLR has up to 90 days to tell you whether your history is a problem for the specific license you want to pursue.¹

Who Can Request One

Two things have to be true. You must be enrolled in, or planning to enroll in, an educational program for an initial TDLR license (or planning to sit for a licensing exam), and you must have reason to believe a past conviction or deferred adjudication could make you ineligible.²

The word “initial” matters. The evaluation is for people who have not yet applied. If you have already filed a formal license application with TDLR, you are past the point where this process is available to you.

What to Put in Your Request

Three pieces have to arrive together: the Criminal History Evaluation Letter Request Form, a Criminal History Questionnaire for each offense, and the $10 fee.³ TDLR will not start the clock on your request until it has all three.

On the request form, give your full legal name as it appears on your government-issued ID, your Social Security number, and the specific license you plan to pursue, such as Class A Barber, Journeyman Electrician, or Massage Therapist.⁴ The form also asks you to state the basis for your potential ineligibility.²

Fill out one Criminal History Questionnaire per conviction and per deferred adjudication.⁴ Be thorough and honest. TDLR’s review may include pulling court records, reviewing police records, interviewing you, and contacting parole officers, probation officers, or counselors familiar with your background.¹ An offense you leave off that TDLR finds on its own undermines the whole evaluation.

Both the request form and the questionnaire are downloadable PDFs on the TDLR website. Check the agency’s criminal history evaluation page for the current submission instructions before you send anything in.

Cost and How Long It Takes

The fee is $10.¹ Once TDLR has a complete request (form, every required questionnaire, and the fee), it has 90 days to issue your letter.⁵ An incomplete packet does not start that clock.

How TDLR Weighs Your Record

TDLR does not use a blanket ban. Under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 53, the agency first asks whether your offense directly relates to the occupation you want to enter. If a connection exists, it then weighs additional factors to decide whether you are fit to be licensed anyway.

Whether the Offense Relates to the Occupation

TDLR looks at four things when deciding if there is a meaningful link: the seriousness of the offense, how the crime relates to the reasons the state licenses that occupation, whether the license would give you an opportunity to commit the same type of offense again, and how the crime relates to the skills and responsibilities the job demands.⁶ A theft conviction weighs more heavily against a property tax consultant handling client funds than against an air conditioning technician.

Fitness Factors

If a connection exists, the agency then considers:

The extent of your criminal history. A single old conviction is treated differently than a long pattern.
Your age at the time of the offense. Crimes committed as a young adult carry less weight than those committed later in life.
Time since your last criminal activity. A long stretch of law-abiding behavior helps.
Your work and conduct history before and after the offense.
Rehabilitation efforts, including treatment programs, education, or vocational training completed in custody or after release.
Compliance with probation, parole, or community supervision.
Letters of recommendation from law enforcement, prosecutors, probation officers, community leaders, or employers.

You are the one responsible for gathering and submitting this evidence. TDLR expects you to build your own case, and the strength of your file depends on what you put in it.⁶

Some offenses face heightened scrutiny no matter the occupation. Under Section 53.021, TDLR can deny a license based on an offense that directly relates to the occupation, certain serious felonies listed in the Code of Criminal Procedure, or any sexually violent offense.⁶

What the Letter Actually Promises You

Under Section 53.104, if TDLR finds no ground for ineligibility, it tells you in writing. If it finds you are ineligible, it issues a letter laying out each basis for that conclusion. The statute then says that, unless new evidence surfaces that you knew about and did not disclose (or that TDLR could not reasonably have accessed), the ruling “determines the requestor’s eligibility with respect to the grounds for potential ineligibility set out in the letter.”⁵ If you disclosed everything and TDLR clears you, the agency has largely committed itself on the issues it evaluated.

TDLR’s own website is more cautious. The agency says the recommendation “is not binding on the Department, should the requestor later proceed with applying for a license” and that the letter “is intended only to provide guidance and information.”¹ Practically, a favorable letter is a strong signal that you can invest in training and expect to be licensed, but it is not an ironclad promise. If your criminal history changes after the letter, or you failed to disclose something material, the evaluation no longer shields you.

If You Get an Unfavorable Letter

An unfavorable evaluation is not the end of the road, but your options at this stage are narrow. TDLR states that the letter “is not a final decision and cannot be appealed.”¹ There is no administrative hearing on the letter itself.

What you can do is apply for the license anyway. TDLR will then conduct a new, complete investigation of your background. If the agency recommends denying the application, you have the right to a hearing at the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), and the final decision rests with the Commission of Licensing and Regulation.¹ Formal hearing rights only attach once TDLR moves to deny an actual license application. If your circumstances have improved since the letter, or you have assembled stronger rehabilitation evidence, applying and making your case at SOAH may still be worth pursuing.

Make Sure Your License Is Actually a TDLR License

This process only covers licenses TDLR issues. The agency regulates more than 40 programs, including air conditioning and refrigeration contractors, barbering and cosmetology, electricians, massage therapy, tow truck operators, driver education providers, auctioneers, midwives, mold assessors, podiatrists, property tax consultants, and water well drillers.⁷ Other Texas professions are regulated by different boards, and this evaluation does not reach those. Confirm your intended occupation is on TDLR’s list before you file your request.

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Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Criminal History Evaluation Letter
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State of Texas. Texas Occupations Code 53.102 – Request for Criminal History Evaluation Letter
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Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Criminal History Evaluation at a Glance
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Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Criminal History Evaluation Letter Request Form
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State of Texas. Texas Occupations Code 53.104 – Determination of Eligibility Letter
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Justia Law. Texas Occupations Code Chapter 53 – Consequences of Criminal Conviction
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Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Programs Licensed and Regulated by TDLR