Can a DUI be expunged in Arkansas?

Whether a DUI can be cleared at all

Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1405(a) makes a person eligible to petition to seal a misdemeanor sixty days after the sentence, court costs, any driver's licence suspension reinstatement fee and all other reinstatement requirements are complete. Section 16-90-1405(b)(1) then places a misdemeanor violation of § 5-65-103, the driving-while-intoxicated section, in a short list of offenses for which a petition may not be filed until five years have elapsed since completion of the sentence. Section 16-90-1405(b)(5) removes eligibility where the person held a commercial driver licence or commercial learner's permit when the traffic offense was committed.

“(1) A new uniform petition to seal one of the following criminal offenses until after a period of five (5) years has elapsed since the completion of the person's sentence for the conviction: … (G) A misdemeanor violation of § 5-65-103;”

The driving record is a separate record

This is the part most summaries leave out. A court can seal or expunge the criminal case and the licensing agency can still keep the DUI on the driver record, where it reaches insurers and counts as a prior offence if there is a second one.

Not addressed on the official pages read. No Department of Finance and Administration page addresses removing a driving-while-intoxicated conviction from the driver record after a court seals the criminal record. The sealing statute runs the other way: Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1405(a)(3) and (a)(4) require any driver's licence suspension reinstatement fee to be paid and all other reinstatement requirements to be met before a petition may be filed. The Office of Driver Services sets the administrative suspension periods by counting a second, third or fourth offense within a five-year time span.

“2 nd offense = 24-month suspension (if 2 nd offense was within a 5-year time span). 3 rd offense = 30-months suspension (if 3 rd offense was within a 5-year time span). 4 th offense = 4-year revocation (if 4 th offense was within a 5-year time span)”

What else sits on that record: suspensions and points in Arkansas.

How long the wait is, and from when

Five years since completion of the sentence for a misdemeanor violation of § 5-65-103, rather than the sixty days that applies to misdemeanors generally. The sixty-day clock in § 16-90-1405(a) does not start until the sentence and restitution are complete, court costs are paid, any driver's licence suspension reinstatement fee is paid, and all other driver's licence reinstatement requirements are met. Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1410 allows a petition to seal a case ended by an order of dismissal or an acquittal, and one year after an order nolle prosequi.

“(3) Full payment of driver's license suspension reinstatement fees, if a driver's license suspension reinstatement fee was assessed as a result of the person's arrest or conviction for the misdemeanor or violation; and (4) The completion of all other driver's license reinstatement requirements”

Automatic or by petition

Arkansas has no automatic clearing law; the relief starts with a uniform petition filed in court. A separate route exists through specialty courts: Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1602, as amended in 2025, lets a specialty court judge order dismissal and sealing on completion of the program, but subsection (c) states that the judge shall not dismiss a driving or boating while intoxicated offense and shall not order sealing until the applicable look-back periods under § 5-65-111 have elapsed.

“(c) A specialty court program judge shall not dismiss an offense of driving or boating while intoxicated and shall not order sealing until the applicable lookback periods under § 5-65-111 have elapsed.”

Where it is filed, and what it costs

Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1413 places the uniform petition in the circuit or district court of the county where the offense was committed and the person was convicted. Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1418 gives the Arkansas Crime Information Center the job of drafting the uniform petition and uniform order forms. Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1419 sets a $50 filing fee, collected by the circuit clerk or district court clerk, waived where the petitioner is indigent under Rule 72 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure.

“16-90-1419. Filing fee. (a) The circuit clerk or district court clerk shall collect a fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) for filing the uniform petition unless the petitioner is indigent and the fee is waived under Rule 72 of the Arkansas Rules of”

Whether a cleared DUI still counts as a prior

Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1417(b)(2) states that sealing does not prevent the use of a prior conviction in any criminal proceeding for any purpose not otherwise prohibited by law, for habitual offender status, for impeachment on cross-examination, or for disclosures required by the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure. Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1602(c) ties specialty court sealing of a driving while intoxicated offense to the look-back periods in § 5-65-111.

“(2) This subchapter does not prevent the use of a prior conviction otherwise sealed under this subchapter for the following purposes: (A) Any criminal proceeding for any purpose not otherwise prohibited by law;”

The statute: Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1405

“16-90-1405. Eligibility to file a uniform petition to seal a misdemeanor offense or violation. (a) A person is eligible to file a uniform petition under this subchapter to seal his or her record of a misdemeanor or violation sixty (60) days after: (1) The completion of his or her sentence for the”