Can a DUI be expunged in Washington?

Whether a DUI can be cleared at all

A Washington DUI conviction cannot be vacated. RCW 9.96.060(2)(d) bars vacation where the offense was a violation of RCW 46.61.502 (driving while under the influence), RCW 46.61.504 (actual physical control while under the influence) or RCW 9.91.020, and the Administrative Office of the Courts petition form lists DUI and physical control among the offenses a person cannot ask the court to vacate. Division Two of the Court of Appeals reached the same conclusion in City of Bremerton v. Bright, a published opinion filed October 1, 2024, holding that under the plain language of RCW 9.96.060(2)(d) DUI convictions cannot be vacated. Where the DUI charge did not produce a conviction, RCW 10.97.060 provides for deletion of nonconviction data from criminal justice agency files.

“(d) The offense was a violation of RCW 46.61.502 (driving while under the influence), 46.61.504 (actual physical control while under the influence), 9.91.020 (operating a railroad, etc. while intoxicated), or the offense is considered a "prior offense" under RCW 46.61.5055 and the applicant has had”

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. RCW 46.01.260(2)(a) directs the Department of Licensing to keep records of convictions for driving under the influence, physical control, vehicular homicide and vehicular assault, along with records of deferred prosecutions granted under RCW 10.05.120 and any other record of a prior offense as defined in RCW 46.61.5055, permanently on file. The five-year destruction authority in subsection (1) does not apply to them. The Department of Licensing also states that where a court reduces a DUI charge to reckless driving, negligent driving or another reduced charge, the driving record shows the reduced charge but any license suspension, revocation or disqualification is not reduced or changed.

“(2)(a) The director shall not destroy records of convictions or adjudications of RCW 46.61.502, 46.61.503, 46.61.504, 46.61.520, and 46.61.522, records of deferred prosecutions granted under RCW 10.05.120, or any other records of a prior offense as defined in RCW 46.61.5055 and shall maintain such”

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

How long the wait is, and from when

No waiting period reaches a DUI conviction because it cannot be vacated at all. For the misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor convictions that can be vacated, RCW 9.96.060(2)(g) requires at least three years since the later of release from supervision or probation, release from total and partial confinement, or the sentencing date, and subsection (2)(h) requires no new conviction in the three years before the application. Domestic violence convictions carry five years under subsection (2)(f)(iv). For a DUI charge that produced no conviction, RCW 10.97.060 makes nonconviction data subject to deletion two years after a disposition favorable to the defendant, or three years from the date of arrest, citation or warrant where no conviction was obtained.

“(g) For any offense other than those described in (f) of this subsection, less than three years have passed since the later of the applicant's release from supervision or probation; the applicant's release from total and partial confinement, as defined in RCW 9.94A.030; or the applicant's”

Automatic or by petition

Washington has no Clean Slate style law that clears an adult DUI conviction without a filing. Vacation under RCW 9.96.060 requires an application to the sentencing court and is discretionary with the court. The one route that operates without a court petition is RCW 10.97.060, under which criminal history record information consisting of nonconviction data only is deleted from criminal justice agency files on the request of the person who is the subject of the record, though the agency may refuse where the disposition was a deferred prosecution or similar diversion, where the person has a prior felony or gross misdemeanor conviction, or where the person was arrested for or charged with another crime in the intervening period.

“Such criminal history record information consisting of nonconviction data shall be deleted upon the request of the person who is the subject of the record: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That the criminal justice agency maintaining the data may, at its option, refuse to make the deletion if: (1) The”

Where it is filed, and what it costs

RCW 9.96.060(2) has the application made to the sentencing court. The Administrative Office of the Courts publishes the pattern petition, revised November 2024, which asks the court for an order vacating the conviction and includes a checklist of excluded offenses naming driving while under the influence and actual physical control while under the influence. Under RCW 9.96.060(1) the court gives effect to a vacation by letting the applicant withdraw a guilty plea and enter a plea of not guilty, or setting aside a guilty verdict, and then dismissing the charging document and vacating the judgment and sentence. Under subsection (9) the clerk transmits the order to the Washington State Patrol identification section and to any local police agency holding criminal history information, which must update their records and forward the order to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. No filing fee is stated on the statute or the pattern form.

“Excluded Offenses: I know I cannot ask the court to vacate a conviction for the following offenses. RCW 9.96.060(2)(c)-(e): ... Driving while under the influence ("DUI") (RCW 46.61.502). Actual physical control while under the influence (RCW 46.61.504).”

Whether a cleared DUI still counts as a prior

RCW 9.96.060(8)(a) provides that a vacated conviction is not included in the person's criminal history for sentencing on a later conviction, but adds that nothing in the section affects or prevents the use of a prior conviction in a later criminal prosecution, and subsection (8)(c) makes a conviction vacated on or after July 28, 2019 a prior conviction for charging a present recidivist offense. This does not reach a DUI, which cannot be vacated. Under RCW 46.01.260(2)(a) the Department of Licensing keeps every prior offense as defined in RCW 46.61.5055 permanently on file.

“Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, nothing in this section affects or prevents the use of an offender's prior conviction in a later criminal prosecution.”

The statute: RCW 9.96.060

“(2) Every person convicted of a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor offense may apply to the sentencing court for a vacation of the applicant's record of conviction for the offense. If the court finds the applicant meets the requirements of this subsection, the court may in its discretion vacate the”