--- title: "Rhode Island Expungement Lawyer" description: "A Rhode Island expungement lawyer at Bank and Munns explains who qualifies, the 5, 10, and 15 year waiting periods, what can never be cleared, and how the court hearing works." url: https://bankandmunns.com/rhode-island-expungement-lawyer/ date: 2026-08-13 modified: 2026-09-30 author: "Bank and Munns" image: https://bankandmunns.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Rhode-Island-Expungement-Lawyer-Bank-Munns.webp type: page lang: en --- # Rhode Island Expungement Lawyer A Rhode Island expungement lawyer at Bank & Munns clears eligible arrests and convictions from your record so they stop showing up on job, housing, and licensing background checks. Rhode Island lets first offenders expunge a misdemeanor 5 years after the sentence ends and a non-violent felony after 10 years, and a law signed on June 22, 2026 now allows 2 to 4 non-violent felonies to be expunged after 15 years. There is no court filing fee. Chad F. Bank and Rory Munns handle the record review, the motion, and the hearing. Call 401-573-2265 for a free consultation. **Quick answer:** Expungement in Rhode Island is governed by R.I. Gen. Laws Title 12, Chapter 1.3. A first-time misdemeanor can be expunged 5 years after you finish the sentence, 2 to 5 misdemeanors after 10 years, and a single non-violent felony after 10 years. Since June 22, 2026, 2 to 4 non-violent felonies can be expunged 15 years after the last sentence ends. Cases that were dismissed or ended in a not guilty finding can be sealed with no waiting period. DUI, chemical test refusal, and crimes of violence can never be expunged. The court charges no filing fee, and the BCI record costs $5. **Bank & Munns - Rhode Island Expungement Lawyer** 1,300+ five-star Google reviews. Statewide representation. Available 24/7. [Call 401-573-2265](tel:4015732265)  |  [Free Case Review](https://bankandmunns.com/contact-us/) ## Rhode Island Expungement Lawyer A criminal record does not stay in the past. It resurfaces on background checks for jobs, apartments, and professional licenses long after the sentence is finished, and the people running those checks never hear the story behind the entry. Expungement is the legal fix. Once a court grants the motion, the record is destroyed or fully sealed, and under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-4 you may lawfully answer that you have no record on most applications. ### What an Expungement Lawyer Actually Does The work starts with the record itself. Chad F. Bank and Rory Munns pull your full criminal history from the Bureau of Criminal Identification and match every entry against the eligibility rules as they stand today rather than as they stood when you were sentenced. Old advice is often wrong now. Then we draft the motion for the correct court, serve the Attorney General and the police, gather the rehabilitation evidence the judge will want, and stand with you at the hearing. ### Sealing vs Expungement: Two Different Remedies Sealing and expungement are separate remedies, and the words get swapped constantly. Sealing applies to cases that never produced a conviction: a dismissal, a no true bill, a no information, a not guilty finding, or a one-year filing under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-10-12 completed without a violation. Expungement applies to convictions and probation. Both hide the record from most employers, landlords, and the public. The eligibility test is the difference, and it is where most self-filed motions go wrong. ## Who Is Eligible for Expungement in Rhode Island Eligibility under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2 turns on three things: what the offense was, how many convictions you have, and how much time has passed since you finished the last sentence, including probation and any suspended term. Each category has its own clock. Meeting it is never enough by itself, because the judge must still find good moral character. ### First-Time Misdemeanor: 5 Years A first offender may move to expunge a misdemeanor conviction 5 years after completing the sentence. During those 5 years you must have no new convictions and no pending charges, and every condition of the sentence, including fines, restitution, and court costs, must be satisfied. Probation counts. The clock starts when it ends, not when the plea was entered. ### Two to Five Misdemeanors: 10 Years If you have 2 to 5 misdemeanor convictions and no felonies, you may move to expunge all of them 10 years after the last sentence was completed. Three carve-outs catch people by surprise. Driving under the influence, chemical test refusal, and domestic violence convictions are excluded from this track, and a DUI or refusal conviction cannot be expunged under any track at all. More than 5 misdemeanors puts you outside the statute. ### Single Non-Violent Felony: 10 Years A first offender with one felony conviction may move to expunge it 10 years after completing the sentence, as long as the felony is not a crime of violence. Nothing about this track changed in 2026. Because the clock runs from the end of the full sentence, a 5-year suspended sentence with probation means the 10 years do not begin until that probation is over. ### Deferred Sentences and Filings Two dispositions are often overlooked. A deferred sentence that you complete without a violation can be expunged once the deferral period ends, with no additional waiting period, and a one-year filing on a misdemeanor is not a conviction at all, so once the year passes clean the record can be sealed. If you took either years ago and never went back to court, the record is almost certainly still there. ### Prostitution and Cannabis: Special Rules Two categories have their own timelines. Prostitution or loitering for prostitution charged on or after November 3, 2009 may be expunged 1 year after the sentence is completed, regardless of prior offenses. Cannabis is different again. Rhode Island ordered automatic expungement of convictions for possessing amounts that are now legal, with the courts required to finish by July 1, 2024, but automatic did not always mean complete. If yours still shows up, we can file a petition. ## What Changed in 2026: Multiple Felony Expungement On June 22, 2026, the Governor signed H 7079 Sub A and its Senate companion S 3036 Sub A, and the law took effect on passage. Before that date, Rhode Island allowed one felony conviction to be expunged in a lifetime. That cap is gone. A person with 2 to 4 non-violent felony convictions may now move to expunge all of them 15 years after completing the last sentence. ### How the New Multiple-Felony Track Works The motion is heard the same way a single-felony motion is heard. You file in the court that entered the convictions, the Attorney General and the police receive notice and may object, and the judge holds a hearing on good moral character and rehabilitation. The 15-year clock runs from the end of the last sentence, including probation and parole. Every conviction in the group must be non-violent. One crime of violence sinks the whole motion. ### Eight Offenses Now Permanently Ineligible The same law added 8 offenses to the permanent list. That door is closed. First offense or fifth, and no matter how many years have passed or how much rehabilitation you can show, none of the following can be expunged in Rhode Island: - **DUI resulting in death** (R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-27-2.2) - **Failing to stop at an accident** that resulted 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** ## Convictions That Can Never Be Expunged Some records are permanent. No amount of time or evidence of a changed life will move them, and reading this list first saves a wasted filing and a wasted hearing date. Our [Convictions That Cannot Be Expunged in Rhode Island](https://bankandmunns.com/convictions-that-cannot-be-expunged-in-rhode-island/) page has the full rundown. ### DUI and Chemical Test Refusal A conviction for driving under the influence under R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-27-2 can never be expunged. The same is true of a chemical test refusal under § 31-27-2.1 and DUI resulting in death under § 31-27-2.2. First offense or not, the answer is the same. Older guidance suggested a first-time DUI could be cleared after 5 years, and that is the most common misunderstanding we hear at consultations. It cannot. A DUI that was dismissed or reduced to a non-DUI charge is different, which is why the plea you take today controls what can be erased tomorrow. ### Crimes of Violence Rhode Island bars expungement of any crime of violence. The statutory list includes murder, manslaughter, first-degree arson, kidnapping, robbery, larceny from the person, sexual assault, child molestation, assault with intent to murder or rob, burglary, and entering a dwelling with intent to commit a felony. Add the 8 offenses above. A conviction in either group is permanent and strips first-offender status for every other case on your record. ## Rhode Island Expungement Fees and Costs There is no court filing fee for an expungement motion in Rhode Island. The $100 fee that used to appear in § 12-1.3-3 was struck by the General Assembly in P.L. 2021 chapters 141 and 142, effective July 3, 2021, and no court can charge it now. The only fixed cost is the certified BCI record from the Attorney General's office, which is $5 and is waived for anyone 62 or older or disabled. Bring a photo ID. Our [Rhode Island Expungement Fees](https://bankandmunns.com/rhode-island-expungement-fees/) page covers every cost in detail. ## 7 Things to Know About Expungement in Rhode Island 1. The clock starts when the sentence ends. Not the arrest date, not the plea date. If you served 2 years of probation, the waiting period begins the day it closed, and any fine still owed stops the clock. 2. Nolo contendere counts as a conviction. A nolo plea with probation is treated as a conviction for expungement purposes. It does not go away on its own and needs a motion like any other conviction. 3. Out-of-state and federal convictions count against you. The first-offender test looks at your whole record. A felony in Massachusetts can make you ineligible to expunge a Rhode Island misdemeanor. 4. Expungement is never automatic on the waiting date. Cannabis is the only exception. For everything else you must file, give notice, and persuade a judge who may say no even when every number lines up. 5. The Attorney General can object. The AG and the arresting police department receive notice of every motion and may argue against it. An objection turns a two-minute formality into a contested hearing. 6. Expunged means you can say no. Rhode Island's Ban the Box law, in effect since January 1, 2014, already bars most employers from asking about criminal history on the initial application. An expungement goes further: under § 12-1.3-4 you may answer that you have never been arrested or convicted, with narrow exceptions for bar admission, law enforcement jobs, and licensing that involves care of children or vulnerable adults. 7. A new conviction can undo the work. If you are convicted of a new offense after an expungement, the expunged record may be reopened and used against you at sentencing. The order lasts only as long as the record stays clean. ## How the Expungement Process Works in Court The process under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-3 has a fixed shape, and knowing it in advance takes most of the fear out of the courthouse, because every motion moves through the same five steps in the same order. Our [Rhode Island Expungement Timeline - How Long the Process Takes](https://bankandmunns.com/rhode-island-expungement-timeline-how-long-the-process-takes/) page covers the calendar. ### Step 1: Get the Record and Confirm Eligibility Everything starts with the BCI record from the Attorney General's office in Cranston, which costs $5, requires a photo ID, and often contains entries you forgot or a case that was supposed to be sealed years ago and never was. Each entry is then checked against the offense restrictions, the conviction count, and the waiting period. Open fines matter. A $40 balance will stall a motion. ### Step 2: File the Motion in the Right Court The motion is filed in the court that entered the disposition: District Court for most misdemeanors, Superior Court for felonies and for misdemeanors transferred there, and a motion filed in the wrong building simply gets bounced. A clerk then sets a date. Hearings usually land several weeks out, and notice goes to the Attorney General and the arresting police department. ### Step 3: Build the Good Moral Character Record This is the part that decides close cases. The judge must find good moral character and rehabilitation, and has discretion to deny the motion even if you satisfy every statutory box. We assemble the proof in advance: employment history, letters from supervisors or clergy, proof of education or treatment, community involvement, and a clean record since the conviction. A thin file invites a denial. ### Step 4: The Hearing Expungement motions are heard on a regular calendar, often alongside dozens of other matters. Unopposed, the hearing may last two minutes. If the AG or the police objects, the judge takes argument from both sides, may ask you questions directly, and rules from the bench or takes the matter under advisement. Dress for a job interview. ### Step 5: The Order and What Happens After When the motion is granted, the court orders the clerk, the BCI, and the police department to expunge or seal their records, and that order takes time to work through each agency because each one updates on its own schedule. Private background-check companies that copied the record earlier are not bound automatically, so we give clients a certified copy to send to any company still reporting the case. After that, you may lawfully say it never happened. ## Why Hire a Rhode Island Expungement Lawyer You are allowed to file the motion yourself. Many people with one clean misdemeanor succeed. The cases that fail usually fail for reasons a lawyer would have caught: an unpaid fine that stopped the clock, an out-of-state case that destroys first-offender status, a motion filed in the wrong court, or a good moral character file that consisted of the petitioner's own word. Bank & Munns reads the record first and files only what will hold up. When the case is still open, we think about the record before the plea is entered, because the charge you accept in a [Rhode Island Plea Bargain](https://bankandmunns.com/rhode-island-plea-bargain/) decides whether the record can ever be cleared. A DUI plea closes that door for life. The [Rhode Island criminal defense lawyer](https://bankandmunns.com/) homepage covers the rest of the practice. ## Related Reading - [Rhode Island Expungement Fees](https://bankandmunns.com/rhode-island-expungement-fees/) - [Convictions That Cannot Be Expunged in Rhode Island](https://bankandmunns.com/convictions-that-cannot-be-expunged-in-rhode-island/) - [Rhode Island Expungement Timeline - How Long the Process Takes](https://bankandmunns.com/rhode-island-expungement-timeline-how-long-the-process-takes/) - [Rhode Island Plea Bargain](https://bankandmunns.com/rhode-island-plea-bargain/) - [Rhode Island misdemeanor defense lawyer](https://bankandmunns.com/rhode-island-misdemeanor-defense-lawyer/) - [Rhode Island felony defense lawyer](https://bankandmunns.com/rhode-island-felony-defense-lawyer/) **Talk to a Rhode Island Expungement Lawyer Today** We will review your record and tell you plainly whether sealing or expungement is the right remedy. Free consultation. Available 24/7. [Call 401-573-2265](tel:4015732265)  |  [Free Case Review](https://bankandmunns.com/contact-us/)