The Short Answer
A past probation or parole violation does not, on its own, make you ineligible to apply for federal firearm rights restoration. It can still change your case in three ways: when your sentence counts as finished, whether a Department of Justice presumption of denial applies to you, and how reviewers judge your record.
How much it matters depends on what the violation was, how the court or parole board handled it, and how much time has passed since you finished every part of your sentence.
This article explains how the DOJ’s Federal Firearm Rights Restoration program treats past supervision violations, what records to gather, and why federal relief does not settle Texas restrictions.
Applying Is Not the Same as Being Approved
Anyone who is federally prohibited from having firearms under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) may apply for relief through DOJ’s FFRR program. A past violation does not take that ability away. All applications go through the Office of the Pardon Attorney.
An application is only a request. Filing one does not change your legal status, so you remain prohibited while it is pending and after any denial. Relief exists only once DOJ grants it, and grants are published in the Federal Register.
The standard for a grant is set in 28 C.F.R. § 107.20. DOJ must find that you are not likely to act in a way that endangers public safety and that relief would not be contrary to the public interest. No applicant, with or without a past violation, is entitled to relief.
DOJ says it will open the online application to the first 5,000 applicants on November 4, 2026, with wider access after that. Being early in line does not help an application that is presumptively disqualified or missing records. Our federal firearm rights restoration page explains the program in more detail.
How a Violation or Revocation Changes Your Record
The word “violation” covers very different outcomes. What matters most is what the court or parole board did about it.
How the violation was resolved | What it does to your record | Why it matters for FFRR |
|---|---|---|
Warning, added conditions, or extended term | No new conviction; supervision may run longer | Your sentence ends later, and the violation is part of your supervision history |
Regular probation revoked | A sentence, which can include confinement, is imposed | Your completion date moves to the end of the new custody and any remaining obligations |
Deferred adjudication adjudicated | A finding of guilt and a conviction replace the deferred | You now have a conviction that can trigger the federal ban, plus a new sentence to finish |
Parole or mandatory supervision revoked | Return to custody on the original sentence | Your sentence discharge date moves later |
Deferred adjudication can become a conviction
Under Texas law, a deferred adjudication that is completed and dismissed is not a conviction. A violation can change that. If the judge grants the State’s motion to adjudicate, you are found guilty, sentenced, and now have a felony conviction that triggers the federal ban under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
While felony deferred is still pending, the Fifth Circuit has treated the person as “under indictment” under 18 U.S.C. § 922(n), which bars receiving a firearm. DOJ also presumes denial for anyone “in a program to avoid conviction,” discussed below.
Parole violations work the same way
DOJ’s FFRR guidance defines “sentence” to include parole and other release. A parole revocation therefore extends the sentence DOJ looks at, the same way a probation revocation does. Under Texas Government Code § 508.283, Texas may also deny credit for time already spent on parole, depending on the offense and how much of the sentence remained.
The Date That Drives Everything: When Your Sentence Ended
For most applicants, the key date is the day you completed the final requirement of your sentence. DOJ’s 5-year and 10-year presumptions apply if, within that window, you were convicted of or served any part of a sentence for a covered offense.
DOJ defines “sentence” broadly. According to its presumptive disqualifiers page, it includes:
- custody, such as jail, prison, or home confinement
- supervision, such as probation, parole, or other release
- unsatisfied obligations, such as fines, fees, restitution, treatment, classes, community service, or electronic monitoring
A revocation usually pushes this date later. So can an unpaid balance. If you finished supervision in 2019 but paid off restitution in 2022, the later date is the one to check.
Waiting periods are presumptions, not statutory bars
Congress did not set these waiting periods. DOJ wrote them into its regulation as presumptions of denial, measured from your conviction or the end of your sentence:
- 10 years for felonies involving drug trafficking, threats of violence, explosives, certain firearm or ammunition conduct, weapons on school property, or animal abuse; also a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, where certain new arrests during the window restart the clock
- 5 years for any other felony, and for misdemeanor assault, battery, stalking, or threatened violence
If you apply inside the applicable window, DOJ will deny the application unless you show extraordinary circumstances. Once the window has passed, that presumption no longer applies, but DOJ still weighs your full record before deciding.
A Hypothetical Example
Assume a non-violent state jail felony in the 5-year category. The person was placed on deferred adjudication in 2018, had guilt adjudicated after violations in 2020, and was released from state jail in 2021. They paid their last court costs in 2023.
The clock starts when the last obligation ends
DOJ’s waiting period runs from the date you finished every part of your sentence, including court costs. In this example, that is 2023.
Presumption of denial. Approval requires extraordinary circumstances.
Presumption ends. DOJ still weighs the full record.
DOJ Presumptive Disqualifiers a Violation Can Touch
DOJ lists five types of presumptive disqualifiers: current status, permanent, 10 years, 5 years, and reapplication. If one applies, the application will be denied unless you show extraordinary circumstances. A supervision violation can bring several of them into play.
Disqualifier | How a violation can trigger it |
|---|---|
Current status: serving any part of a sentence | A revocation or extension keeps you under sentence longer |
Current status: in a program in place of conviction | Applies while you remain on deferred adjudication or a similar diversion |
Current status: awaiting sentencing | Applies while sentencing is pending on any crime, including a new charge |
Current status: unlawful drug user or addict | Recent positive tests or admitted use can raise this; marijuana-only use is excluded |
Current status: certain restraining orders | Applies to court orders against harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or a partner’s child |
Permanent, 10-year, or 5-year offense category | A new-offense violation can produce a new conviction with its own category, such as felony assault (permanent) or drug distribution (10 years) |
Reapplication | A denial for reasons other than a presumptive disqualifier creates a 5-year presumption against reapplying |
Two more rules apply. First, DOJ says you must disclose every presumptive disqualifier, including convictions that were later expunged, pardoned, or set aside. Second, the categories turn on the underlying conduct, not just the name of the offense.
Because of the reapplication rule, applying before you are ready can cost time. A denial for being under sentence means waiting until that status changes. A denial for other reasons can add five more years.
How DOJ Weighs a Past Violation
Clearing every presumption gets your application considered on its merits. It does not decide the outcome. Under § 107.20, DOJ may look at any relevant fact, and the rule expressly lists your conduct while on probation or supervised release as one factor.
Other listed factors often bear on a violation, too:
- the seriousness of your criminal history and the conduct behind it
- how much time has passed since your sentence ended, and your behavior since
- past or present controlled substance use
- any restraining or protective orders, and any threats you made
- information from local law enforcement
Not all violations look alike
The rule does not sort violations into types, and it does not say how much weight any violation carries. Some violations do connect directly to listed factors.
- Technical violations break supervision rules without a new crime, such as a missed appointment, late payments, or missed community service.
- New-offense violations involve a new arrest or new criminal conduct.
- Drug-related violations connect directly to the controlled substance factor. Treatment records and a documented period of sobriety speak to that factor.
- Weapon or protective-order violations go to the core question DOJ is deciding: whether you are likely to endanger public safety.
Years without new arrests after the violation speak directly to a factor DOJ lists: your conduct since your sentence ended.
Records and Evidence to Gather
Gather records before you start, because DOJ gives you 30 days to finish an e-application once you begin it. Before beginning the application, it helps to understand the full process and what DOJ will review. Our federal firearm rights restoration service explains the broader application process, eligibility issues, and how relief works after a federal firearm prohibition.
Records DOJ requires for a felony conviction
DOJ’s required documents page asks for true digital copies of court and government records. For a felony conviction, that includes:
- the charging document, such as an indictment, information, or complaint
- the judgment of conviction
- an official document showing the date you completed the final requirement of your sentence
- if applicable, the plea agreement, factual basis, and presentence report
- state criminal records for every place you have lived or been arrested, covering the shorter of the last 25 years or the time since age 18
- an affidavit from three qualified references
If you have ever applied for an expunction, set-aside, pardon, or restoration of rights, DOJ also asks for that application and any decision on it.
Records that tell the violation’s full story
These are not all on DOJ’s required list, but they help explain what happened and how it ended:
- the motion to revoke or motion to adjudicate, and the order that resolved it
- any judgment entered after revocation or adjudication
- discharge papers from probation, parole, or mandatory supervision
- receipts or a clerk’s statement showing fines, fees, and restitution are paid
- any order granting early termination or judicial clemency
- treatment completion records and documented sobriety, if the violation was drug- or alcohol-related
- employment history and references who know your life since the violation
What happens if something is missing
If a required record is unavailable for reasons outside your control, the rule lets you submit a sworn statement describing its contents and your efforts to get it. If DOJ finds the application incomplete, it will notify you, and you have 30 days to correct and resubmit before the application is closed. An incomplete file is not an automatic denial, but it does cost time.
Be completely honest
Under § 107.80, any grant of relief is void if you state something you do not believe is true or deliberately withhold requested information. Leaving a violation off your application could void any relief you receive.
Federal Relief and Texas Restrictions Are Separate
A federal grant removes only the federal prohibition. The rule says federal relief does not extend to independent state-law firearm disabilities. You have to satisfy federal law and Texas law at the same time.
Two laws, two clocks
A felony conviction brings a federal ban and a Texas ban. They run on different clocks, and FFRR relief lifts only the federal one.
Passing the Texas 5-year period does not lift the federal ban. Texas allows possession at home after that point, but § 922(g)(1) has no home exception.
If you are unsure whether your current status could expose you to a new federal charge, our guide to federal felon-in-possession charges explains how § 922(g)(1) works, what the government must prove, and why state-law permission does not always eliminate federal exposure.
Texas options a violation can close
Federal law does not count a state conviction that has been expunged, set aside, or pardoned, unless the relief expressly says you may not have firearms (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20)).
Texas judicial clemency under Code of Criminal Procedure art. 42A.701 lets a judge set aside the verdict and dismiss the case. It requires a finding that you satisfactorily fulfilled the conditions of community supervision, so a revocation rules it out for that case. It is not available for intoxication offenses under Penal Code §§ 49.04–49.08, offenses requiring sex offender registration, or felonies described in art. 42A.054.
If you are unsure whether you are prohibited under Texas law, federal law, or both, get advice before you possess any firearm or ammunition.
How We Can Help
A restoration application with a past violation depends on getting the dates right, identifying every presumption that may apply, and presenting a complete, honest record.
Our firearm rights restoration work is led by Russell Lorfing, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, who brings federal prosecution experience to the review of eligibility, disqualifiers, and application strategy. We can help you:
- confirm the date you completed the final requirement of your sentence
- check which DOJ presumptions, if any, apply to you
- determine whether you are prohibited under federal law, Texas law, or both
- gather the court records that explain a revocation or adjudication
- prepare an application through our federal firearm rights restoration service
Every case turns on its own facts, and no attorney can promise that DOJ will grant relief. What we can give you is a clear picture of where you stand before you apply.
To talk through your situation, contact our office for a confidential consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I apply while I am still on probation, parole, or deferred adjudication?
You can submit an application, but DOJ presumes denial for anyone serving any part of a sentence or in a program in place of conviction. You would need to show extraordinary circumstances. If you are denied on that basis, DOJ says to wait until your status changes before reapplying.
How long after a revocation should I wait?
It depends on the offense. For most felonies, DOJ’s presumption lasts 5 years after you were convicted or last served any part of the sentence. Certain offenses carry a 10-year presumption, and some are presumptively disqualifying no matter how much time passes.
Does a technical violation count against me?
It is part of your supervision history, which DOJ may consider. The rule does not say how much weight any particular violation carries.
Should I include treatment records if my violation was drug-related?
They are not on DOJ’s required list. DOJ may consider past or present controlled substance use, and current unlawful use is a presumptive disqualifier. Treatment completion records and documented sobriety address that directly.
What if I cannot get a copy of an old court record?
If a required record is unavailable for reasons outside your control, you may submit a sworn statement describing what the record contained and what you did to try to get it. Request records before you begin the e-application, since DOJ gives you 30 days to finish it once started.
Does finishing my revocation sentence clear my record?
No. Completing the sentence satisfies the court’s requirements and starts DOJ’s waiting periods. It does not expunge the conviction or remove the federal prohibition.
What happens if my application is denied?
When you can reapply depends on why you were denied. A permanent disqualifier stays in place, a time-based presumption means waiting until it expires, and a status-based denial means waiting until the status changes. A denial for other reasons adds a 5-year presumption. Federal law also provides for judicial review of a denial in the U.S. district court where you live.