Texas CHL holders beware...

T

Tex S

New member
Looks like I have found myself in a bit of a spat with the Texas CHL department.

In January of 2010 I was cited a class C misdemeanor for disorderly conduct. Went to court, paid my fine, done deal, right?

Wrong. As it turns out, a class C misdemeanor for disorderly conduct is grounds for revocation of your CHL. I openly admit that I should have been more aware of the law, but unfortunately I wasn't. 100% my fault.

Fast forward 20 months. I recieved a letter from the state of Texas dated 9-19-2011 stating that I needed to renew my CHL. Keep in mind that the whole time I did not know that my license was revoked, and I was carrying as usual. I was even pulled over twice in 2011 and no peace officer ever made mention that my license was invalid. So, when I recieved the notice to renew, I logged onto the state website and paid $72 for a renewal. The license would not be officially renewed until I re-took the classroom CHL test again. Fortunately for me I never paid for this, and if I would have, it would have been more money down the drain.

Here is where it gets interesting. After I paid for my renewal, I recieved a letter dated 10-15-2011 stating that my CHL had been revoked as of 10-2-2010. I was perplexed since just 2 months earlier I had recieved a renewal notice. Why would the state send me a renewal letter if the license had been revoked for over a year? After a call to the CHL department, I was made aware that my revocation was due to the disorderly conduct ticket I recieved in January of 2010. They confirmed that the license had been revoked since 10-2-2010. When I asked why I was sent a renewal letter dated 9-19-2011 the operator replied, "Sometimes it takes a while for our system to update."

Wow.

I was diappointed to say the least. I looked closely at the laws, and sure enough, the State had every right to revoke my license. I was ok with this, and stopped carrying concealed immediately.

After a few minutes, I thought to myself... "Wonder what is going to happen to the $72 I paid when the State asked me to renew?" Keep in mind that no renewal license was ever issued since I had not yet taken the classroom portion.

I called the State. After switching me between 5 different people it became quite apparent that nobody knew how to handle the situation. Eventually I sent an email to the customer service department explaining my story. About 5 minutes later the State replied telling me that "All sales are final. It is the license holders responsibility to know the status of their CHL. No refund will be issued."

At this point I was pretty upset. I understand why the license was revoked and had no problem with it. Unfortunately I did have a problem with the State essentially baiting me with a letter that said to renew, then switching things up and saying I was revoked after I had already paid to renew. Crazy.

Luckily I paid for the renewal with American Express so I dicided to file a dispute. After a lengthy 2 month review AMEX returned my $72.

Buyer beware. The State of Texas will not issue refunds, period. They essentially stole $72 from me and told me "Sorry, no refunds."

I know this post was a bit lengthy so I will recap...

January 2010- I was cited with a Class C misdemeanor for disorderly conduct.
September 2011- State sent me a letter asking me to renew my CHL.
October 2011- I paid a $72 renewal fee.
November 2011- I recieved a letter stating my CHL had been revoked as of 10-2-2010
November 2011- Asked the State to refund my money. Was told no.

Do you think the State should have refunded my money????????
 
In the abstract yes but I'm sure you'll find a disclaimer somewhere that tells you 'no refunds on money paid'

What I find unacceptable is that they have a 'customer service' outlet that offers no such thing. It's an 'information desk', not 'customer service' if they won't even consider your complaint and handle it reasonably
 
Yes, they should have...but possibly, legally, did not have to. Maybe it would have been worth it to let them keep it in order to avoid a spat with a department that can hold up giving you your license back with a reasonable amount of time?

My CC is so important to me that I will not move to a state where it does not transfer.....and I do federal work and can go anywhere. You may have gotten the $72 back through the credit card company, but also gained another problem all together....

Good luck....
 
Maybe it would have been worth it to let them keep it in order to avoid a spat with a department that can hold up giving you your license back with a reasonable amount of time?
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According to their records I will be allowed to reapply in 2017. That is a 5 year penalty for the ticket and a 2 year penalty for the revocation.
 
When you apply for a concealed carry license or renewal in Texas, the first page of the online process has this statement:

Please provide the following:

•Social security number,
•Valid driver license or identification card,
•Current demographic, address, contact, and employment information,
•Residential and employment information for the last five years (new users only),
•Information regarding any psychiatric, drug, alcohol, or criminal history (new users only),
•Valid email address, and
•Valid credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express)
ALL FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE
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(Emphasis added)

I knew full well the application fee was non-refundable when I applied the first time. It was my responsibility to know I was qualified.

I doubt they owed you any money even though I believe they should have provided a refund.
 
2017; wow, that's a tough break.

Nothing an attorney can do for you through negotiation with the state (funds dependent I know)?
 
Nothing an attorney can do for you through negotiation with the state (funds dependent I know)?
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Not sure. Haven't really given it much thought. Probably nothing they can do anyway. The law is the law.
 
Bummer about losing the $72. However, I think if you would have been more familiar with the law, you would have found that you can't have a CHL with a Class C misdemeanor disorderly conduct conviction. Yes, they should not have sent you the renewal. At the same time, you should not have sent them the renewal fee. You have had the class before. You were made aware of the law. You may not have remembered the law, but you certainly should have remembered that certain types of transgressions will disqualify you and double checked to see if you still qualified.

I am also surprised and disappointed that they did not notify you of your revocation.
 
It seems to me
that you got a big break, in that they didn't prosecute you for UCW (Unlawfully Carrying a Weapon) from the 10/02 2010 date, forward.
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This was my thinking as well.

I believe that would involve actually getting caught doing it, which he apparently had not been.
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He says in the OP that he was pulled over twice while carrying (illegally).

.....I wonder why the officers didn't catch it?
 
I believe that would involve actually getting caught doing it, which he apparently had not been.
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Precisely. I am however, very lucky that I wasn't caught. Could have been disastrous.

Partly why I titled this thread "Texas CHL holders beware". Sometimes it's easy to forget minor details of the law. Especially the ones that carry all the heft of a speeding ticket.

I'll just stick to keeping the pistola in the truck until 2017.
 
.....I wonder why the officers didn't catch it?
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The officers had zero chance of knowing. Shoot, the best I can figure, the CHL department didn't have it figured out until November of 2011.

A representative told me verbatim, "It takes a while for our system to update."

Guess "a while" is almost 2 years.
 
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