Letter requesting information from court

[timdaus@mac.com]

I received a letter from the DPS indicating they had found a record that was not listed on my application and needed more information. The item in question is related to a record from Louisiana - I and two coworkers (we were all upper management) left a company we worked for and started a company of the same type that we had been running. We had numerous reasons for our decision to venture on our own and made sure that we handled everything according to the letter of the law. We did not violate any confidentiality agreements and did not have any type of non-compete. In addition, (2) of the (3) of us were involved in a running project for a client and offered to handle that project for our prior employer on an advisory basis at no cost to our prior employer or their client in order to make the transition seamless for all involved. Our prior employer acted very poorly in regard to our offer and threatened the client who was at that point determined to hire our newly founded company as our first client. Long story short, our prior employer was violently angry and one of the owners threatened physical violence (note - we found he had a prior record from Kentucky so there was cause for alarm).. They chose to fight us by of course filing a civil suit (we anticipated this), but in addition they filed false affidavits of criminal conspiracy and theft against all three of us. We handled the legal issues appropriately, the case was thrown out of the civil courts as they were found to have no cause of action and in due course (this took a long stressful period of time as the gears turned slowly) the case was dismissed in the criminal courts as well. The issues were all completely groundless and the only reason anything went anywhere in the first place was (1) the employer had some political clout via contributions to office-holders etc. (2) this was in Louisiana - refer back to (1) and remember that Louisiana still very much operates on an old-boy network. Our attorney filed expungement documents and that proceeding ran for a year - until we found there were still records. The attorney re-filed expungement proceedings and these were completed back in 2007. As such, all records related to this garbage were supposed to have been destroyed by all agencies involved.

Obviously - after our second round of expungement proceedings - this is still not the case - the State of Texas found reference to this headache.. I received a letter asking for clarification and copies of court documents related to the status of this case. This is not a problem of course - I have all the court records and have made copies of all the related documents including the court records, the order of expunction, etc. The letter indicated that as soon as the DPS receives back the appropriate documentation related to this record, they will consider my application complete and make my final determination (so this is what has been holding me up apparently).... I am trying to get recommendations as to the best way to proceed at this point to make sure this information is received and processed as quickly as possible by the DPS. My thought is to send it priority mail (or overnight mail - though from Houston to Austin either is really the same as far as timeline I would think) and then to follow-up around the end of the week to make sure the clerk handling my application has received everything they need.

Anyone have any suggestions on the best manner to proceed from here - to make sure the DPS gets my documents and completes my application as quickly as possible -- I've been waiting since the beginning of May - so my anticipation is thick!

Thanks for the help and advice - this forum has been VERY helpful to me and I imagine everyone who has questions about what is going on with our applications... and beyond that is a great resource for all the information and issues that affect all of us as CHL holders...

Tim
timdaus@mac.com

[Crossfire]

Follow the instructions in the request letter, and send your paperwork by a method that can be verified, such as Priority Mail, or Certified Mail.

[Charles L. Cotton]

Call me at my office on Wednesday afternoon. 713-228-0700.

Chas.

[dcphoto]

Call Chas because he is a lawyer and I'm not, but I would imagine that you just need to send them a copy of the final expungement order. After all, expunged is a status.

Send the information, a copy of their letter, and a cover letter with the application number by certified mail with a return receipt. Once you get the return receipt card, give a call to verify they have everything they need.

[timdaus@mac.com]

I got all the documentation together and faxed copies (11 legal format pages) which contained copies of the court records along with a letter explaining the history of the case with my prior employer (2 pages). The letter included the following items of record:

Please find attached / enclosed a copy of the Motion For Expungement Of Record (Dated December 17, 2009), a copy of an Order of Expungement (page 3), a copy of the Judgement of Expungement ordering the agencies to clear their records (signed by the Judge in Amite, Louisiana on January 6, 2010 – page 5), a copy of the Motion to Dismiss dated August 9, 2006 and signed by the Assistant District Attorney for Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, a copy of an Affidavit dated December 18, 2009 stating that there are no other charges pending as of that date and signed by the Executive Secretary for the 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Office. I have also attached / enclosed copies of the documents showing the original charges filed and the Minutes of the Criminal Court proceedings related to this case. I have basically included everything I have in relation to this case.

I followed-up the next morning with an email requesting to know that the information was received by the proper agent/investigator handling my file and an update as to whether they required more information or not.

I received back in very short order an email from the investigator handling my file that read as follows:

I have reviewed the documents you submitted and cleared your file for
issuance. Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery of your license.

Mxxxxx Sxxxx
Administrative Assistant III - Eligibility Evaluation Unit
Licensing & Registration Services
Regulatory Services Division

A couple hours later I received another email from a customer service representative at their office as well:

The license is being printed. You should receive it within 1-2 weeks.

Last night I logged-on to the site multiple times and there was no change to the status...
Today I logged-on (waited until this afternoon)... and the status is now updated to reflect the status as :

Application : Received
Fingerprints : Complete
Affidavits : Received
DL or ID : Valid
Citizenship : No documentation required
Passport photo holder : Received
Photo : Received
Proof of Classroom training : Received
Proof of Proficiency training : Received
Fee : Received
Background Check : Completed
Concealed Handgun License : Manufacturing Pending

So it looks like I made it through the curve - and that sending the fax was a good idea to help shorten the processing curve by at least a couple of days (postal time)...

I'm now on the list of people waiting for the printer to work their magic.... and then standing by for the USPS to deliver a much-anticipated package!

I appreciate all the insight I've gotten from the members of this forum to date... I suppose my focus now is going to be moving more to the day-to-day issues facing CHL holders. My initial concerns include a little shopping (always fun)..
I've got a couple of Kel-Tec 380s but I think I'm going to get another 380 for a regular carry item - and will have to figure out what works best for me on a daily basis. I've pretty much decided that my full-frame 40's and 9's are going to be
too much bulk for daily carry.

I'm pleased to be joining an ever-growing number of individuals in this country who are exercising our Second-Amendment rights and our rights of self-defense. As duly noted in my CHL class, if you're waiting on the police to show up when something occurs, you're waiting to file a report -- you're a victim. Their numbers are not great enough to provide "protection" and there never will be numbers sufficient to that task (nor should there be). I hope that as more and more people assert their rights to self-protection that individuals with an interest in criminal activities will recognize that the risk to themselves greatly outweighs the reward. They are looking for the "easy mark" - if we make sure none of us are - then they will have to look to more lucrative endeavors... things that won't likely result in someone asserting their right to self-preservation against them. If there are no victims to take advantage of - that weekly paycheck from the legitimate employer becomes a lot more attractive.

Thanks again for all the insight to date - I'm looking forward to being a long-term follower/contributer here...

Now if they could only make the postal service more efficient -- and turbocharge those little trucks.... till then - standing by the mailbox.

[timdaus@mac.com]

Update - I was in-touch with the DPS a couple weeks back - I had faxed them over the information from the court... got the word that they had finally cleared my file for final "manufacturing pending" on the 21st - contacted them again via email as I continued to see no update in status -- was told on the day I contacted them 7/28 that my license was complete and being mailed that day - - FINALLY got the PLASTIC CARD in the mail on Saturday 7/31/10 -- so my wait is now OVER !!!

My new challenges are finding what works best for me as a full-time carry gun. I have a Sig 226 40cal, a Glock 23cal, an H&K P2000SK 9mm, (2) Kel-Tec 380s, and a Walther 22 -- So, I'm looking for good concealed holsters for the Glock and the H&K. I'm also considering a couple of new gun options... I'm looking at a Kimber or STI 1911 or the STI 2011 - in 45cal or 10mm, and I'm looking at possibly adding a Ruger LCP to the list... so that I can determine what combination works best on a daily basis for carry, in-car, on my motorcycle, etc...

But mostly... overall.... Finally the wait is over - the plastic does eventually arrive - it just takes a lot of patience and a realization that logging-on 3 times a day doesn't make the process roll any more quickly at the DPS... I will say that for the amount of legwork they do in this process... and given we are talking about government agencies - it's really quite amazing that the process goes this quickly. For some people I've seen on this board it goes VERY quickly all things considered.

Finally though - my wait is over.... best wishes and empathetic thoughts to all the guys out there still waiting -- your plastic is coming soon too.... Now if we can just see the statistics turn in our favor as the criminals begin to realize that the days of the "easy mark" are coming to an end... every day I open the paper and see an article about someone defending their life or property - I realize we are moving that much closer to the day where they all realize that there is no easy money in potentially violent crime... it can be downright dangerous to the perpetrator -- they will move on to greener and softer pastures...

Tim
timdaus@mac.com