Can a DUI be expunged in Oklahoma?

Whether a DUI can be cleared at all

Oklahoma's expungement statute lists the categories of people who may file, and driving under the influence is not excluded from any of them. A person convicted of a misdemeanor who was sentenced to a term of imprisonment, a suspended sentence or a fine greater than $500 may file once five years have passed since the end of the last misdemeanor sentence, provided the person has not been convicted of a felony and no felony or misdemeanor charges are pending. A misdemeanor charge dismissed after successful completion of a deferred judgment or delayed sentence may be expunged one year after the dismissal. The statute's only offence-based bars are for violent felonies listed in Section 13.1 of Title 21 and offences requiring sex offender registration.

“The person was convicted of a misdemeanor offense, the person was sentenced to a term of imprisonment, a suspended sentence or a fine in an amount greater than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), the person has not been convicted of a felony, no felony or misdemeanor charges are pending against the”

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. Expungement does not reach the driving record. Okla. Stat. tit. 47, § 6-117 states that the Motor Vehicle Report, a summary of the driving record covering the three years preceding the request, together with any record or information associated with it, is not a public civil record for purposes of the expungement statute and is not subject to expungement. The same section requires Service Oklahoma to keep abstracts of court records of convictions so that an individual record showing a person's convictions is readily ascertainable.

“The Motor Vehicle Report, to include any record or information associated with the Motor Vehicle Report, shall not be deemed a public civil record as provided in Section 18 of Title 22 of the Oklahoma Statutes, and shall not be subject to expungement.”

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

How long the wait is, and from when

Five years must have passed since the end of the last misdemeanor sentence for a misdemeanor conviction carrying imprisonment, a suspended sentence or a fine over $500. Where the misdemeanor conviction carried only a fine under $501 with no imprisonment or suspended sentence and the fine has been paid, no waiting period is stated. A misdemeanor charge dismissed after a deferred judgment or delayed sentence requires one year from the dismissal, and an acquittal or a declined prosecution has its own category with no five-year wait.

“The person was charged with a misdemeanor, the charge was dismissed following the successful completion of a deferred judgment or delayed sentence, the person has never been convicted of a felony, no misdemeanor or felony charges are pending against the person and at least one (1) year has passed”

Automatic or by petition

Oklahoma's Clean Slate law, House Bill 3316 of 2022, made a set of the expungement categories eligible for automatic sealing beginning three years after its November 1, 2022 effective date and subject to the availability of funds. The category covering a misdemeanor conviction after five years is among them where the record is an Oklahoma single-source record. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation states that funding arrived in later sessions, that the earliest possible deadline from House Bill 3316 would be November 1, 2025, and that it is bridging the gap between the petition-based process and the automatic process in phases. Under the process the Bureau identifies eligible records monthly, notifies the prosecuting and arresting agencies, which have 45 days to object, and the court then issues expungement orders for unopposed cases.

“Beginning three (3) years after November 1, 2022, and subject to the availability of funds, individuals with clean slate eligible arrest records shall be eligible to have their arrest records sealed automatically.”

Where it is filed, and what it costs

A qualified person petitions the district court, which sets a hearing and gives thirty days' notice to the prosecuting agency, the arresting agency, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and any other agency believed to hold relevant information. The court may order the records sealed on a finding that the harm to privacy or the danger of unwarranted adverse consequences outweighs the public interest in retaining them. Multiple offences in one county may be combined in a single petition. The Bureau states that expunging the court record is free, that expunging the arrest record requires a $150 processing fee, that fees may also be owed to local law enforcement agencies sealing their own records, and that it accepts cashier's checks or money orders but not personal checks.

“Expunging your court record is free. Expunging your arrest record requires paying a $150 processing fee. It may also require fees be paid to local law enforcement agencies expunging their records.”

Whether a cleared DUI still counts as a prior

Okla. Stat. tit. 22, § 19 states that an expunged offence is not treated as a prior offence in deciding whether another offence qualifies for expungement, and that records expunged under the conviction and deferred-judgment categories remain admissible in a later criminal prosecution to prove a prior conviction or prior deferred judgment without a court order unsealing them. On the licensing side, Okla. Stat. tit. 47, § 6-205.1 lengthens a revocation where a prior revocation, a prior Impaired Driver Accountability Program enrolment or completion, or a qualifying out-of-state conviction falls within the ten years preceding the date of arrest, as shown by the records of Service Oklahoma.

“A revocation shall be for a period of one (1) year if within ten (10) years preceding the date of arrest relating thereto, as shown by the records of Service Oklahoma”

The statute: Okla. Stat. tit. 22, §§ 18, 19

“Any person qualified under Section 18 of this title may petition the district court of the district in which the arrest information pertaining to the person is located for the sealing of all or any part of the record, except basic identification information.”