DUI Expungement

Is a DUI eligible for expungement?

Expungement is a legal process that allows you to have any and all public record references to prior criminal convictions cleared and the court file of the case sealed. If your application for expungement is granted, Ohio courts follow a process known as sealing the record. This means the record of one’s criminal conviction are actually physically removed from the general court records, sealed under court order, and no longer are available to the public. Once the record is sealed, the record of your conviction should not show up on background checks.

There are certain offenses under Ohio law that cannot be expunged. Charges of Operating a Motor Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol cannot be expunged. As a result, if a person has received a conviction for OVI, OMVI, DUI, DWI, they would not be eligible for an expungement.

Further, under the old Ohio expungement law, a DUI conviction also precluded a person from receiving an expungement of a separate unrelated criminal conviction. However, Senate Bill 337 which changed the Ohio Expungement Law in September 2012 and now allows a person to have one DUI conviction and still be eligible for expungement of another criminal conviction.  This change in the law now makes many more people eligible for expungement who were formerly not eligible under the old expungement statute.  It is important in these cases to consult with an expungement attorney to determine if you qualify to have your criminal conviction sealed.

Dismissed Traffic Charge

The statutes in Ohio do provide some eligibility for dismissed traffic charges, including OVI and DUI. If you had one of these charges that were eventually dismissed, our team can help you fight to have those records sealed. We’d like to speak with you about your dismissed traffic charges and review your eligibility. Contact our office to get started.