Can a DUI be expunged in Kentucky?

Whether a DUI can be cleared at all

KRS 431.078 lets a person convicted of a misdemeanor, violation or traffic infraction petition the convicting court for expungement. The court shall order it only if four findings are made, and the fourth is that the offence is not one subject to enhancement for a second or subsequent offence, or that the time for such an enhancement has expired. Driving under the influence is enhanced by prior offences within a ten-year period under KRS 189A.010, so the enhancement window must run out before a conviction can be expunged. The petition itself may be filed no sooner than five years after the sentence or probation is complete.

“The offense is not one subject to enhancement for a second or subsequent offense or the time for such an enhancement has expired.”

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 cleared. The driving history record runs on its own timetable. KRS 186.018(2), as amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 193 (Senate Bill 66, signed by the Governor on April 23, 2026), requires the Transportation Cabinet to destroy and not maintain records of moving traffic convictions more than ten years old, lengthened from the previous five years. KRS 186.018(3) requires conviction records to be kept indefinitely for anyone who holds, has applied for, or has ever held a commercial driver's licence or commercial learner's permit. Nothing in KRS 431.078 directs the Transportation Cabinet to remove a conviction from the driving history record.

“Except as provided in subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the Transportation Cabinet shall destroy, and shall not maintain, records of moving traffic convictions that are more than ten (10)[five (5)] years old.”

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

How long the wait is, and from when

KRS 431.078(2) sets the earliest filing date at five years after the completion of the sentence or five years after successful completion of probation, whichever occurs later. For a driving-under-the-influence conviction the ten-year enhancement window in KRS 189A.010 must also have run: under KRS 189A.010(10) that period is measured from the dates on which the offences occurred for which the judgments of conviction were entered. The court must also find the person has not been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor in the five years before filing and that no felony or misdemeanor proceeding is pending.

“the petition shall be filed no sooner than five (5) years after the completion of the person's sentence or five (5) years after the successful completion of the person's probation, whichever occurs later.”

Automatic or by petition

Kentucky expunges only on petition. KRS 431.078(3) requires the court to set a hearing no sooner than thirty days after filing and to notify the county attorney, any identified victim, and anyone the petitioner believes has relevant information. KRS 431.078(1) requires the person to be told of the right at the time of adjudication. Subsection (10) makes the section retroactive to misdemeanor convictions before July 14, 1992.

“Upon the filing of a petition, the court shall set a date for a hearing, no sooner than thirty (30) days after the filing of the petition, and shall notify the county attorney; the victim of the crime, if there was an identified victim”

Where it is filed, and what it costs

KRS 431.078(7) sets the filing fee at one hundred dollars, of which the first fifty dollars goes into a trust and agency account for deputy clerks and is not refundable. The Administrative Office of the Courts petition form states that a separate petition must be filed for each criminal case, that the charges must be listed in the petition to be expunged, and that a copy of the current expungement eligibility certification must be attached. Copies of the order go to each agency or official named in it.

“The filing fee for a petition under this section shall be one hundred dollars ($100). The first fifty dollars ($50) of each fee collected pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited into a trust and agency account for deputy clerks and shall not be refundable.”

Whether a cleared DUI still counts as a prior

KRS 189A.010(5) grades the offence by whether it is a first, second, third or fourth offence within a ten-year period, and KRS 189A.010(10) measures that period from the dates on which the offences occurred for which the judgments of conviction were entered. KRS 431.078(4)(d) bars expungement while the offence is still subject to that enhancement, so in practice the enhancement window closes before the record can be cleared.

“In determining the ten (10) year period under this section, the period shall be measured from the dates on which the offenses occurred for which the judgments of conviction were entered.”

The statute: KRS 431.078

“Any person who has been convicted of: (a) A misdemeanor, a violation, or a traffic infraction not otherwise classified as a misdemeanor or violation ... may petition the court in which he was convicted for expungement of his misdemeanor or violation record within that judicial district”