I was recently in court with a young woman (still in high school) who was charged with a felony as an adult. She got offered deferred adjudication, which would normally be a good result. However, she makes good grades in school, plans to go to college, and wants to be a nurse one day. She's hesitant to accept deferred adjudication because she's concerned that it might stand in the way of her becoming a nurse. I can't blame her. Several times a year, we represent nurses or nursing students who get deferred adjudication, and a supervised deferred can potentially be a big problem.
Even if you complete a supervised deferred adjudication successfully and the case is dismissed, you are still not eligible to have the arrest expunged from your record. In addition, although you can get an order of nondisclosure in order to partially seal the record, the record of the deferred is still permanently available to any government agency, including a state licensing board, such as the one that screens nursing applicants. Unfortunately for those wanting to become nurses, a deferred adjudication, even if completed, may be grounds for denial of a nursing license. Section 301.452 of the Texas Nurse Practice Act provides that a nursing license can be revoked or denied to anyone receiving deferred adjudication for either a felony, or a misdemeanor "crime or moral turpitude."
Broadly speaking, a "crime of moral turpitude" is any crime involving an element of deception or violence, such as theft, assault, or false report to a peace officer. If you get deferred for a felony or a misdemeanor crime of moral turpitude, you are not automatically barred from getting a nursing license. But at that point, it is completely within the discretion of the board whether or not you get to become a nurse, no matter how qualified you otherwise may be. As I have blogged here before, people without criminal records are often too quick to jump at deferred adjudication because they want to get their cases over with and they mistakenly view deferred as a magic bullet. It's not. It's a great option for some, but not everyone. Like the young woman I represent who aspires to be nurse, you should definitely think long and hard about what you want to do with the rest of your life before you sign up for deferred.