Can a DUI be expunged in Louisiana?

Whether a DUI can be cleared at all

A first-offense operating while intoxicated conviction is a misdemeanor, and Louisiana allows a motion to expunge the record of arrest and conviction of a misdemeanor in two situations: where the conviction was set aside and the prosecution dismissed under Code of Criminal Procedure Article 894(B), or where more than five years have passed since the person completed any sentence, deferred adjudication, probation or parole with no felony conviction in that period and no felony charge pending. The offences excluded from misdemeanor expungement are sex offences, domestic abuse battery and stalking; operating while intoxicated is not among them, but Article 984 adds a requirement of a certified letter from the Office of Motor Vehicles.

“A person may file a motion to expunge his record of arrest and conviction of a misdemeanor offense if either of the following apply: (1) The conviction was set aside and the prosecution was dismissed pursuant to Article 894(B) of this Code. (2) More than five years have elapsed since the person”

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 Office of Motor Vehicles is the statutory repository for records of an operating-while-intoxicated plea set aside under Article 894 and keeps them for ten years. A certified copy of the plea record, the person's fingerprints and identifying details are mailed to the Office of Motor Vehicles at the time the motion is made, with a $50 court cost for storage and retrieval, and certified copies are admissible in a later prosecution for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Article 894(C) adds that nothing in the article is a basis for destroying the records of the arrest and prosecution.

“The Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of motor vehicles, shall serve as a repository for the records referred to in Subparagraph (A)(5) of this Article for any plea for operating a vehicle while intoxicated entered pursuant to the provisions of this Article. The department shall”

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

How long the wait is, and from when

Five years must have passed since completion of any sentence, deferred adjudication, probation or parole, with no felony conviction during that period and no pending felony charge; the motion must carry a certification from the district attorney confirming this. There is no five-year wait where the conviction was already set aside and the prosecution dismissed under Article 894(B) after a deferred sentence, but Article 894(B)(2) allows that discharge and dismissal for operating a vehicle while intoxicated only once in any ten-year period.

“More than five years have elapsed since the person completed any sentence, deferred adjudication, or period of probation or parole, and the person has not been convicted of any felony offense during the five-year period, and has no felony charge pending against him.”

Automatic or by petition

Louisiana has no automatic clearing of an operating while intoxicated conviction. Expungement of a misdemeanor conviction requires a motion filed with the court on the statutory forms. The Code does define an 'expedited expungement' that a judge may sign without a motion being filed, but that route is an order under Article 999 dealing with arrest records rather than convictions.

“"Expedited expungement" means an order of expungement that a judge may sign pursuant to Article 999 without the individual filing a motion to expunge with the clerk of court.”

Where it is filed, and what it costs

Only the forms printed in Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 987 through 995 and 998 may be used. The total court cost of an expungement order is capped at $550, made up of a $250 processing fee for the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information, $50 each for the sheriff and the district attorney, and up to $200 for the clerk of court, all collected when the motion is filed and all non-refundable even if the motion is denied. In an operating-while-intoxicated case an extra $50 court cost is paid to the Office of Motor Vehicles, and the motion must be supplemented with a certified letter from that office.

“Except as provided for in Articles 894 and 984, the total cost to obtain a court order expunging a record shall not exceed five hundred fifty dollars.”

Whether a cleared DUI still counts as a prior

A set-aside and dismissed operating-while-intoxicated conviction still counts as a prior. The dismissal has the same effect as an acquittal except that the conviction may be considered as a prior offense and provide the basis for prosecuting the person as a multiple offender, and that discharge and dismissal may happen only once in any ten-year period. Records held by the Office of Motor Vehicles are admissible only in a later prosecution for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

“The dismissal of the prosecution shall have the same effect as an acquittal, except that the conviction may be considered as a prior offense and provide the basis for subsequent prosecution of the party as a multiple offender. Discharge and dismissal under this provision for the offense of”

The statute: La. C.Cr.P. art. 977

“Art. 977. Motion to expunge a record of arrest and conviction of a misdemeanor offense ... C. No person shall be entitled to expungement of a record under any of the following circumstances: (1) ... a sex offense as defined in R.S. 15:541 ... (2) ... domestic abuse battery. (3) ... stalking (R.S.”