Convictions That Cannot Be Expunged in Rhode Island

The convictions that cannot be expunged in Rhode Island are set by statute, and the list starts with the crimes of violence defined in R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-1: murder, manslaughter, first degree arson, kidnapping with intent to extort, robbery, larceny from the person, first and second degree sexual assault, first and second degree child molestation, assault with intent to murder, rob, or commit sexual assault, burglary, and entering a dwelling with intent to commit a felony. Those never come off. Any DUI or chemical test refusal conviction, a record with five or more felonies, the eight offenses the General Assembly added to the permanent list in 2026, and any case with a sentence still unfinished are blocked too, and those are the ones that surprise people. Bank & Munns, a Providence criminal defense firm with 1,300+ five-star Google reviews, reviews records before a motion is filed so nobody sits through a hearing that cannot succeed. Call 401-573-2265 for a free consultation.

Quick answer: Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2, a conviction for a crime of violence as defined in § 12-1.3-1 can never be expunged. A DUI conviction can never be expunged, first offense or not, because § 12-1.3-2 excludes convictions under § 31-27-2 (DUI), § 31-27-2.1 (chemical test refusal), and DUI resulting in death from every expungement path; only a governor's pardon can remove one. Since June 22, 2026, eight more offenses are permanently barred on every track, including DUI resulting in death, child abuse, child endangerment, and cruelty to or neglect of a child. A single felony waits 10 years, and a person with two, three, or four non-violent felonies may petition after 15 years, but five or more felonies cannot be cleared. Pending charges anywhere, an unfinished sentence, or an unpaid fine block the motion until they are resolved.

Convictions That Cannot Be Expunged in Rhode Island

Rhode Island's expungement law lives in Title 12, Chapter 1.3 of the General Laws. It is a permission statute, not a right. Section 12-1.3-2 says who may file, § 12-1.3-3 says how the hearing works, and § 12-1.3-1 defines the terms, including the one that matters most here: "crime of violence." If your conviction is on that list, or on the list of eight offenses added in 2026, the analysis ends. If it is not, the next questions are how many felonies are on the record, whether the waiting period has run, and whether anything is still pending or owed.

Crimes of violence under § 12-1.3-1

The statute lists them by name. A conviction for any of the following cannot be expunged, no matter how much time has passed or how clean the record has been since, because the court has no authority to grant the motion:

• Murder
• Manslaughter
• First degree arson
• Kidnapping with intent to extort
• Robbery
• Larceny from the person
• First degree sexual assault
• Second degree sexual assault
• First and second degree child molestation
• Assault with intent to murder
• Assault with intent to rob
• Assault with intent to commit first degree sexual assault
• Burglary
• Entering a dwelling house with intent to commit murder, robbery, sexual assault, or larceny

Two points about this list trip people up. First, it is the conviction that controls, not the arrest. A person charged with robbery who pleaded to simple assault has a simple assault conviction, and simple assault is not on the list. Second, the definition is specific to this chapter. Other Rhode Island statutes, including the firearms chapter, define "crime of violence" differently and more broadly, so a charge that counts as violent for gun-possession purposes is not automatically barred from expungement. Match the exact statute cited on the judgment against § 12-1.3-1 and the 2026 list before assuming anything.

DUI and chemical test refusal, at any offense level

This is the exclusion that catches the most people. A first-offense DUI under R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-27-2 is a misdemeanor, and people assume it clears like any other first-offender misdemeanor after 5 years. It does not. Section 12-1.3-2 carves DUI, chemical test refusal under § 31-27-2.1, and DUI resulting in death out of expungement entirely, and the multiple-misdemeanor path in § 12-1.3-2(b) excludes them too, along with domestic violence convictions. No waiting period ever creates eligibility. The 10-year lookback for counting prior DUIs matters for sentencing, and expungement is simply unavailable at any offense level. The only route around it is a pardon from the Governor. A DUI charge that was dismissed, or that ended as a plea to reckless driving under § 31-27-4, is a different matter: a non-conviction can be expunged, and reckless driving is an ordinary misdemeanor.

Five or more felonies

For years, § 12-1.3-2 limited felony expungement to first offenders, so a person with two felony convictions could not clear either one. That changed on June 22, 2026, when the Governor signed 2026 H 7079 Sub A / S 3036 Sub A into law, effective on passage. A person with more than one but fewer than five non-violent felony convictions may now petition to expunge them 15 years after completing the last sentence, including probation and parole, and the judge must still make the good-moral-character finding while the Attorney General may object at the hearing. The single-felony track is unchanged at 10 years. What remains barred is a record with five or more felony convictions, and any felony that is a crime of violence or one of the eight offenses added in 2026, no matter how the rest of the record looks.

Too many misdemeanors

The rule here is narrower. Rhode Island does allow a person with more than one misdemeanor and no felony convictions to expunge them, but only after 10 years from the completion of the last sentence, only if there have been no new convictions, only up to five, and never for a DUI, a chemical test refusal, or a domestic violence conviction. A record with more misdemeanors than the cap allows cannot be cleared in full, and a record with a felony alongside the misdemeanors is measured on the felony tracks instead.

Anything with a sentence still running or a charge still pending

Open cases block everything. Under § 12-1.3-3, the court cannot grant expungement while any criminal proceeding is pending against you, in Rhode Island or anywhere else. The sentence on the conviction being expunged has to be fully completed, which includes probation, parole, any suspended sentence period, and payment of every fine, cost, and restitution order. These are not permanent bars, but they block the motion until they are cleared, and the waiting period is counted from the date the sentence is actually finished.

8 Offenses Added to the Permanent List in 2026

The same 2026 law that opened a path for people with two to four felonies also closed the door on eight offenses that were never "crimes of violence" under § 12-1.3-1 and, until June 22, 2026, could be expunged on the ordinary schedule. They are now ineligible on every track, whether the record holds one conviction or several, and no waiting period applies:

• DUI resulting in death
• Failing to stop in an accident resulting in personal injury
• Assault with a dangerous weapon in a dwelling house
• Assault on a person 60 or older causing serious bodily injury
• Assault on a person with severe impairments causing serious bodily injury
• Cruelty to or neglect of a child
• Child abuse
• Child endangerment

Two practical points follow. The list is specific, so a plain assault with a dangerous weapon that did not occur in a dwelling house is not on it, and a leaving-the-scene charge that involved property damage only is not on it either. Read the exact count on the judgment. And the law took effect on passage, so a motion on one of these offenses that was pending on June 22, 2026 but not yet granted is affected; a record that was already expunged before that date is not reopened.

8 Things to Know About Convictions That Cannot Be Expunged in Rhode Island

1. The crime of violence list is absolute. Murder, manslaughter, robbery, burglary, first degree arson, sexual assault, child molestation, larceny from the person, kidnapping with intent to extort, and the assault-with-intent offenses in § 12-1.3-1 never come off.
2. Every DUI conviction stays. Section 12-1.3-2 excludes DUI, chemical test refusal, and DUI resulting in death from expungement at every offense level, first offense included. A pardon is the only route.
3. Eight offenses were added in 2026. DUI death, leaving the scene with injury, assault with a dangerous weapon in a dwelling, serious-injury assaults on elders or people with severe impairments, cruelty to or neglect of a child, child abuse, and child endangerment are now permanently barred.
4. Five or more felonies means zero expungements. Two to four non-violent felonies can be petitioned after 15 years under the 2026 amendments; five or more cannot be cleared at all.
5. The conviction controls, not the charge. A violent charge reduced by plea to a non-violent offense is judged by the offense you were actually convicted of.
6. Deferred sentences and filings are different. A deferred sentence under § 12-19-19 is expungeable once the deferral period ends, and a one-year filing under § 12-10-12 seals on its own, regardless of the underlying charge, unless it was a crime of violence.
7. Dismissals and acquittals are not convictions. A case that ended without a conviction is sealed under different rules and is not subject to the crime-of-violence bar.
8. Even an expunged record has limits. Under § 12-1.3-4, an expunged conviction can still be considered at sentencing for a later crime and must be disclosed on applications to become a lawyer, a police officer, a teacher, or a childcare or elder-care worker.

Convictions That Look Barred but Are Not

Just as many people wrongly assume they qualify, others give up on records that can be cleared, usually because the charge sounded serious or because a background check company labeled it violent. A few examples come up every month.

• Simple assault and domestic simple assault. Neither is on the § 12-1.3-1 list. A first-offender misdemeanor assault conviction is eligible after 5 years, though the state objects more often on domestic cases and the judge weighs the public interest.
• Assault with a dangerous weapon outside a dwelling. This felony is treated as violent under other chapters, but it is not in the § 12-1.3-1 definition, and the 2026 exclusion reaches only assault with a dangerous weapon in a dwelling house. A single-felony offender may seek expungement after 10 years, and the Attorney General frequently objects.
• Drug possession and delivery. Drug offenses are not crimes of violence. A single felony possession-with-intent conviction is eligible after 10 years, and past cannabis possession charges were made eligible for automatic clearing under the 2022 Cannabis Act.
• Shoplifting, larceny under the felony threshold, and receiving stolen goods. These are ordinary misdemeanors or felonies, eligible on the normal schedule. Only larceny from the person is barred.
• Breaking and entering. Burglary is on the list, but breaking and entering under Title 11 is a different statute. A single-felony B&E conviction is not automatically barred, though the "entering a dwelling with intent" language has to be checked against the actual count.
• Nolo contendere pleas with probation. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-18-3, a nolo plea followed by probation is not a conviction for most purposes if probation is completed without a violation, and those records are cleared under the same timelines.

The pattern is the same every time. What the judgment says is what the court measures against the statute, so the exact section number on the docket, not the name of the original charge or what a police report called it, decides the answer.

How the Court Decides an Expungement Motion

Even an eligible conviction is not expunged automatically. The motion is heard by a judge in the court that entered the conviction, the state gets a chance to object, and the process under § 12-1.3-3 works like this:

1. Record review. The certified judgment and docket are pulled for each case, along with a $5 BCI report from the Attorney General, so every conviction is matched against § 12-1.3-1, § 12-1.3-2, and the 2026 list before anything is filed.
2. Filing. A motion to expunge and a supporting affidavit are filed with the clerk. There is no filing fee; Rhode Island eliminated it in 2021. The clerk sets a hearing date.
3. Notice. The person filing must give notice of the hearing date to the Department of the Attorney General and the police department that brought the charge. Without proof of notice the hearing does not go forward.
4. Objection window. The state and the police department can object. They usually do on felony motions, on multiple-felony petitions, on domestic cases, and on anything with a named victim.
5. Findings. The judge must find that no criminal proceeding is pending, that you have shown good moral character since the conviction, that you are rehabilitated, and that expungement is consistent with the public interest. Eligibility gets you to the hearing; these findings get you the order.
6. Order. If granted, the order goes to the police, the Attorney General, and the state's record repository, and the record is removed from public view. The court keeps a sealed copy.

A barred conviction never reaches step five. That is why the first step matters most. A Rhode Island expungement lawyer who checks the statute against the record before filing saves the client a court date and a denial on the docket.

What to Do If Your Conviction Cannot Be Expunged

A permanent record is not the end of it. Rhode Island's ban-the-box law bars most private employers with four or more employees from asking about criminal history on the initial application, whether or not the record is expunged. A certificate of good conduct or a pardon application through the Governor's office are separate paths that do not depend on § 12-1.3-2. If the record includes a DUI or one of the 2026 offenses, sometimes the underlying case was resolved in a way that makes it a non-conviction, such as a dismissal or a reckless driving plea, which changes the answer. And if the barred conviction is old and the rest of the record is clean, a lawyer can sometimes negotiate a different outcome on a new charge, such as a filing or deferred sentence, specifically so the new case does not add to a record that can never be cleared.

Those questions are worth an hour. Bank & Munns handles them alongside its criminal defense work, and the first conversation about what is on your record and what can be done with it is free.

Related Reading

• Rhode Island expungement lawyer
• Rhode Island expungement timeline
• Rhode Island expungement fees
• Rhode Island felony defense lawyer
• Rhode Island misdemeanor defense lawyer
• Rhode Island domestic violence lawyer

Frequently Asked Questions

What crimes can never be expunged in Rhode Island?

Any conviction for a crime of violence as defined in R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-1 can never be expunged. That list is murder, manslaughter, first degree arson, kidnapping with intent to extort, robbery, larceny from the person, first degree sexual assault, second degree sexual assault, first and second degree child molestation, assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to rob, assault with intent to commit first degree sexual assault, burglary, and entering a dwelling house with intent to commit murder, robbery, sexual assault, or larceny. The bar applies to the offense of conviction, so a person charged with robbery who pleaded guilty to simple assault has a simple assault conviction, which is eligible. Beyond this list, every DUI and chemical test refusal conviction is blocked by a separate exclusion in § 12-1.3-2, eight more offenses were made permanently ineligible on June 22, 2026, and a record with five or more felony convictions cannot be cleared.

Can a DUI be expunged in Rhode Island?

No, never. R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2 excludes convictions under § 31-27-2 (DUI), § 31-27-2.1 (chemical test refusal), and DUI resulting in death from expungement entirely, first offense or not, and no waiting period ever creates eligibility. The multiple-misdemeanor path in § 12-1.3-2(b), which lets a person clear up to five misdemeanors after 10 years, excludes DUI, refusal, and domestic violence convictions as well. The 10-year lookback that decides whether a new DUI is charged as a second offense is a sentencing rule and has nothing to do with expungement. The only way a DUI conviction comes off a Rhode Island record is a pardon from the Governor. The exception is a DUI charge that never became a DUI conviction: a case that was dismissed can be expunged as a non-conviction, and a plea to reckless driving under § 31-27-4 leaves an ordinary misdemeanor that clears on the normal first-offender schedule. That is why the plea decision on a DUI charge matters so much. A conviction is permanent; a reduction is not.

Can a felony be expunged in Rhode Island?

Yes, on two tracks, as long as it is not a crime of violence or one of the offenses added in 2026. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2, a person with a single felony may move to expunge it 10 years after the sentence is completed, provided there have been no new convictions in that time and no charges are pending. Since June 22, 2026, a person with two, three, or four non-violent felony convictions may petition to expunge them 15 years after completing the last sentence, including probation and parole. The judge must still find good moral character, and the Attorney General may object at the hearing, which it does more often on multiple-felony petitions than on anything else. Five or more felonies cannot be cleared. A felony that was resolved by a deferred sentence under § 12-19-19 is different, because it can be expunged as soon as the deferral period ends without a violation.

Can I expunge more than one felony in Rhode Island?

Yes, since June 22, 2026, if you have fewer than five and none of them is a crime of violence or a 2026 exclusion. Before that date, § 12-1.3-2 limited felony expungement to first offenders, and a second felony made both permanent. The 2026 amendments, 2026 H 7079 Sub A / S 3036 Sub A, created a separate track: a person with more than one but fewer than five non-violent felony convictions may petition to expunge them 15 years after completing the last sentence, counting probation and parole, subject to the good-moral-character finding and an Attorney General objection at the hearing. The 15 years run from the last sentence on the record, not from each conviction separately, so a felony from 1998 and a felony from 2012 are both measured from the 2012 sentence's completion date. A person with five or more felony convictions remains ineligible on every track.

Does a domestic violence conviction block expungement?

Not by itself. A domestic simple assault or domestic disorderly conduct conviction is a misdemeanor that is not on the § 12-1.3-1 crime of violence list, so a first offender may move to expunge it after 5 years. What changes on domestic cases is the hearing. The Attorney General's office and the police department receive notice under § 12-1.3-3, and they object to domestic motions far more often than to other misdemeanors, sometimes with input from the complaining witness. A judge still has to find good moral character, rehabilitation, and consistency with the public interest, and a contested hearing on those findings is where a lawyer matters. If the domestic case was a felony, such as felony domestic assault or strangulation, the 10-year single-felony rule applies instead. Domestic cases that ended in a no-contest plea with probation completed without a violation follow the same timelines. A domestic misdemeanor cannot use the multiple-misdemeanor path, though, and a child abuse or child endangerment conviction is now permanently barred.

What happens if I file for expungement on a conviction that is not eligible?

The motion is denied and the denial appears on the docket. There is no filing fee to lose, because Rhode Island eliminated it in 2021, but the hearing date, the notice to the Attorney General and police, and the morning in court are gone. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-3, the judge cannot reach the questions of character and rehabilitation until eligibility under § 12-1.3-2 is established, so a barred conviction never gets a real hearing. There is no penalty beyond the wasted time, and a denial for ineligibility does not prevent a later motion if the facts change, for example if a pending charge is dismissed or a waiting period finishes running. The practical cost is that most people who file on a barred conviction also have an eligible one on the same record and delay clearing it while they wait for the wrong hearing. Reviewing the entire record against the statute first avoids both problems.

Is an expunged conviction really gone?

For most purposes, yes. Once the order enters, R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-4 allows you to state on employment, housing, and licensing applications that you have never been convicted of that offense, and the record is removed from public view at the police department, the Attorney General, and the courts. Three exceptions remain. The conviction may still be considered if you are later sentenced for a new crime. It must still be disclosed on applications to be admitted to the bar, to serve as a police officer, or to work as a teacher or in childcare or elder-care settings. And the court keeps a sealed copy that can be opened by court order. Private background check companies that copied the record before it was expunged are a separate problem, and a copy of the expungement order is the tool for getting them to remove it.

What did Rhode Island change about expungement in 2026?

Two things, in one law. 2026 H 7079 Sub A / S 3036 Sub A was signed by the Governor on June 22, 2026 and took effect that day. First, it opened a path for people with two, three, or four non-violent felony convictions, who may now petition to expunge them 15 years after completing the last sentence, including probation and parole, subject to the good-moral-character finding and an Attorney General objection. Second, it made eight offenses permanently ineligible on every track: DUI resulting in death, failing to stop in an accident resulting in personal injury, assault with a dangerous weapon in a dwelling house, assault on a person 60 or older causing serious bodily injury, assault on a person with severe impairments causing serious bodily injury, cruelty to or neglect of a child, child abuse, and child endangerment. The crime of violence list in § 12-1.3-1, the DUI exclusion, the 5-year misdemeanor wait, and the 10-year single-felony wait did not change. If you are weighing a plea on a new charge, ask how the outcome lands under the new rules, because a conviction for one of the eight offenses makes that part of the record permanent.