Question 1

Can a DUI be expunged in Rhode Island?

Accepted Answer

No. A conviction for driving under the influence under R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-27-2 cannot be expunged in Rhode Island, and neither can a chemical test refusal under § 31-27-2.1 or DUI resulting in death under § 31-27-2.2. First offense or not, however many years have passed, the answer is the same. Older guidance that a first-time DUI could be cleared after 5 years is wrong. The one exception is a DUI charge that was dismissed, ended in a not guilty finding, or was reduced to a non-DUI offense such as reckless driving; the dismissed count can be sealed and reckless driving follows the normal misdemeanor rules. That is why the plea you accept in a DUI case matters for life.

Question 2

Can I expunge a marijuana possession charge in Rhode Island?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and in many cases it has already happened. The Rhode Island Cannabis Act of 2022 required the courts to automatically expunge past convictions for possessing amounts that became legal, with the process to be completed by July 1, 2024. The automatic process covered qualifying possession offenses only, not sale, delivery, or possession with intent, and records sometimes slip through, so it is worth confirming. A certified BCI record, which costs $5, shows whether the conviction is still there. If it is, a motion can be filed to clear it, and there is no court filing fee. Convictions for larger amounts or for distribution follow the ordinary expungement rules and waiting periods. A lawyer can check the record and file the motion if the automatic process missed yours.

Question 3

Can I expunge a record if I still owe fines or court costs?

Accepted Answer

No. The sentence is not complete until every fine, court cost, and restitution order is paid in full, and the waiting period does not begin to run until that happens. A $40 balance in court costs left over from 2015 can mean a motion filed in 2026 is premature, and the judge will deny it. Before filing, we confirm a zero balance with the clerk and that probation was formally terminated. If an old balance exists, paying it starts the clock at that moment rather than the original sentencing date, so handle it early. Anyone who took a deferred sentence should also confirm the deferral period closed without a violation, since that is the trigger.

Question 4

Can I file an expungement petition without a lawyer in Rhode Island?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Rhode Island does not require a lawyer, and the clerk's office accepts motions from people representing themselves. There is no court filing fee, so a denied motion costs you time rather than money, but the time matters. The judge will deny a motion filed before the waiting period has fully run, while a fine or court cost is still unpaid, without notice to the Attorney General and the police department, or on a conviction that can never be expunged, and the denial stays on the docket. Self-filing works best on a single, clearly eligible misdemeanor where no objection is expected. Records with several cases, a felony, a mix of dismissed and convicted counts, or a likely objection from the state are where a lawyer earns the fee, both in building the good moral character file and in arguing the hearing. A lawyer also follows up after the order to confirm the record was actually removed.

Question 5

Can I get a felony expunged in Rhode Island?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on two tracks, as long as the felony is not a crime of violence or one of the offenses the 2026 law made permanently ineligible. A single non-violent felony can be expunged 10 years after the sentence is completed, including probation and parole, with no new convictions and nothing pending. Since June 22, 2026, when H 7079 Sub A and S 3036 Sub A were signed and took effect, a person with 2 to 4 non-violent felony convictions may move to expunge all of them 15 years after completing the last sentence. The judge still holds a good moral character hearing, and the Attorney General may object. Five or more felonies cannot be cleared. A felony that ended in a deferred sentence under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-19-19 is different, because it can be expunged once the deferral period ends without a violation. If you were told before 2026 that a second felony closed the door for good, that advice may no longer be correct.

Question 6

Does expungement remove my record from the internet?

Accepted Answer

No. An expungement order reaches the court, the police, the Attorney General, and the Bureau of Criminal Identification. It does not reach websites. Mugshot sites, old news articles, social media posts, and private data brokers that copied your case before the order are outside the court's control, and they will keep showing the case until someone asks them to stop. The certified copy of your expungement order is the tool for that. Many background check companies will remove a record when shown the order, and some mugshot sites have removal processes. News organizations are not required to take down accurate reporting, though some will update old stories on request. Search results take time to catch up after a page changes. Start with the companies an employer or landlord is most likely to use, since those reports are the ones that cost people jobs and apartments.

Question 7

How long do I have to wait to expunge a misdemeanor in Rhode Island?

Accepted Answer

A first offender must wait 5 years after completing the sentence for a misdemeanor conviction, and 10 years after the last sentence if you have 2 to 5 misdemeanor convictions and no felonies. The waiting period under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2 runs from the date every part of the sentence is finished, including probation, fines, and restitution, not from the date of the plea. You must also have no new convictions and no charges pending during that time. A 1-year probation term imposed in March 2021 therefore becomes eligible in March 2027. Dismissals and not guilty findings are sealed instead, with no wait.

Question 8

How long does an expungement take in Rhode Island?

Accepted Answer

Once the waiting period has run, most Rhode Island expungement motions take 2 to 4 months from filing to a signed order. The clerk sets a hearing date, notice goes to the Attorney General and the police department that brought the charge, and the hearing itself is usually short when no one objects. An objection adds time, often pushing the case to 6 months or more while both sides prepare. After the order issues, agencies need a few more weeks to remove the record from their systems, and private background check companies can lag further. The waiting period before you can file is the longer clock: 5 years for a first misdemeanor, 10 years for 2 to 5 misdemeanors or a single felony, and 15 years for 2 to 4 non-violent felonies under the 2026 law, all measured from the date the sentence was fully completed.

Question 9

How much does a Rhode Island expungement lawyer cost?

Accepted Answer

Legal fees depend on the size of the record, whether any count needs sealing as well as expungement, and whether the Attorney General or the police department objects, so there is no single number. What the court charges is simpler: nothing. The $100 filing fee that once appeared in R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-3 was eliminated effective July 3, 2021, and no Rhode Island court may collect it. The only mandatory expense is the certified criminal record from the Bureau of Criminal Identification, which costs $5 and is waived for people 62 or older or disabled. Old unpaid fines or court costs on the case are a separate expense, because they have to be paid in full before the motion can be filed. Bank & Munns reviews your record in a free consultation and tells you what qualifies and what the work involves before you decide anything.

Question 10

What does the judge look for at an expungement hearing?

Accepted Answer

Two things: whether you meet the statutory requirements and whether you have good moral character and have been rehabilitated. The first part is arithmetic. Part two is discretionary, and R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-3 lets the judge deny a motion even when every clock has run. Judges look for steady employment, completed education or treatment, family responsibilities, community involvement, and a record that has stayed clean since the conviction, and they give real weight to letters from employers, clergy, or program directors along with your own short, honest explanation of what changed. If the Attorney General or the police department objects, expect harder questions. A prepared file answers most objections before they are raised.

Question 11

What is the difference between expungement and sealing in Rhode Island?

Accepted Answer

Sealing is for cases that never produced a conviction; expungement is for cases that did. If your charge was dismissed, the grand jury returned a no true bill, the prosecutor filed a no information, you were found not guilty, or you completed a one-year filing without a violation, the record is sealed under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1-12, and there is no waiting period. If you were convicted or placed on probation, the record must be expunged under Chapter 12-1.3 after its 5, 10, or 15 year waiting period. For employers and landlords the effect is nearly identical. A case with both dismissed and convicted counts often needs both motions.

Question 12

Will an expunged record show up on a background check?

Accepted Answer

Not on a check run through the court or the Bureau of Criminal Identification after the order takes effect. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-4, once the record is expunged you may state that you were never arrested or convicted, with narrow exceptions for bar admission, law enforcement employment, and licenses that involve care of children or vulnerable adults. Private background-check companies are the weak point. They copy court data on their own schedules, and a company that captured your case before the order may keep reporting it until told to stop, so keep a certified copy of the order and send it to any company still showing the case. A later conviction can also reopen the record at sentencing.

Question 13

Will expungement restore my gun rights in Rhode Island?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the conviction. Under federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20), a conviction that has been expunged generally no longer counts as a conviction for firearm purposes, unless the expungement expressly says the person may not possess firearms. The bigger limit is on the state side. The convictions that trigger Rhode Island's own firearm ban under R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-47-5 are mostly crimes of violence, and those cannot be expunged at all, so the expungement route never opens for them. Domestic violence convictions raise their own federal issues. Because a wrong answer here is a new felony, do not buy, borrow, or accept a gun based on an expungement order alone. Have a lawyer review the exact conviction, the order, and both state and federal law first.

Rhode Island Expungement Lawyer