§ 86.006.Convicted Person

A definition considerably broader than the ordinary meaning of conviction.

A person is considered convicted if sentence is imposed, or the person receives a fine, probation, or deferred adjudication.

Deferred adjudication is the significant inclusion. In Texas it is not a conviction for most purposes — the defendant pleads, the court defers a finding of guilt, and on successful completion the case is dismissed without one. This chapter treats it as a conviction anyway.

Probation and a fine are equally included, so the least serious disposition of the least serious offence satisfies the definition.

The breadth is what makes the traffic exclusion necessary, since a paid ticket is a fine received.

The provision reflects a judgment that the bar should turn on whether the person committed the offence rather than on how the criminal case was resolved. A defendant who accepted deferred adjudication has not contested the conduct.

What it does not reach is a case that ended without any of those four dispositions — dismissal, acquittal, or a charge never brought. The bar requires one of them, so a person injured while committing an offence for which they were never prosecuted is not barred by this chapter.