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DUI Expungements

Can I get my Utah DUI conviction reduced or expunged? How long does it take? What are the costs? Here are the basics of expunging your Utah DUI conviction:

DUI EXPUNGMENT WAITING PERIOD.

10 Years. You have to wait 10 years from the date your case is successfully closed to apply for an eligibility certificate to expunge your Utah DUI.

Successful Completion of your DUI Case. Like any criminal case, in order to expunge your Utah DUI conviction, you must have successfully completed all terms of your DUI probation. All fines, treatment, classes, and restitution must have been fully paid and completed. You can never expunge a criminal conviction if you unsuccessfully completed probation.

10-YEAR WAITING PERIOD FOR ANY DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE CONVICTIONS.

The 10-year waiting period applies to any driving under the influence conviction, not just drinking and driving convictions. It applies to metabolite drugged driving, impaired driving, and DUI.

EXPUNGEMENT COSTS.

As of 10/2020 DUI expungements costs are as follows:

(1). $135 filing fee for each case number. This means that if you had a DUI in the Provo City Justice Court in 2009 and a DUI in the Orem City Justice Court in 2008, you would pay $135 filing fee per court.

(2). $65 eligibility application fee. This is a one-page application with fingerprints that you send to the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification just to see if you qualify for a Utah Expungement.

(3). $65 eligibility certificate per eligible conviction. Each eligible DUI conviction, like all eligible convictions, will cost you $65 per certificate. You must attach your certificate to your expungement petitions or the court will not expunge your record.

(4). $10 Fingerprints. Sometimes you can get free fingerprinting at your local police department, other times it costs around $10.

(5). $40 Certified Copies of Expungement Orders. For any agency to seal your criminal records, that agency must receive a certified copy of the expungement order. If you fail to send the county jail where you were booked the expungement order, they don’t have to seal your jail records. The same goes for the police report.

(6). $500-$800 Uncontested Attorney Fee. Uncontested expungements generally don’t require a court hearing and are done exclusively on paper. Prosecuting attorneys are supposed to put the criminal victim on notice of any expungement petition and get victim input whether to agree to the expungement or contest it.

(7). $1,500 Contested Attorney Fee. Like any contested court hearing, you want your attorney to be prepared to win. Preparation times takes money. Evidentiary hearings are contested matters with witnesses, evidence rules, and cross-examination. These are skills only the best attorneys possess and therefore are expensive.

TYPICAL START TO FINISH TIME TO EXPUNGE YOUR UTAH DUI.

Assuming the client is quick and compliant, the Bureau of Criminal Identification expungement application takes 10 minutes. Fingerprinting is another 10 minutes when the police department opens. Obtaining the BCI eligibility certificates can take up to 6 months, depending on their backlog.

Once you obtain the BCI eligibility certificates, you have 90 days file to an expungement petition or your certificates are stale and unusable. The prosecutor has around 30 days to object, say nothing, or stipulate to your expungement petition. Thereafter, the court takes about 14 days to sign an uncontested expungement petition order.

Once certified copies of the expungement order are obtained, they are sent by registered mail to all agencies that touched your case.

APPEAL OF JUSTICE COURT EXPUNGEMENT DENIAL.

Very few expungement petitions are contested. If you are unlucky and the criminal victim comes forward and wants to contest your petition and you lose in the justice court, you can appeal to the district court and do it all over again.

WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES CAN I NOT GET MY UTAH DUI EXPUNGED?

You can never expunge a felony DUI.

WHAT COURT DOCUMENTS ARE ACTUALLY EXPUNGED?

  • Criminal arrest record. This could be the police report, traffic citation, DUI-9.
  • Court records. Information, motions, orders, discovery requests. The entire court file is sealed from the public eye.
  • Fingerprint records.
  • Police report, video, dash cam.
  • County jail records, booking records, photographs, etc.
  • Prison records.
  • Private reports. All private parties are not bound expungement orders. Anything in the newspapers is there forever.

CAN THE GOVERNMENT STILL SEE MY DUI EXPUNGED CONVICTION?

Often expunged convictions can still be used for sentencing purposes on subsequent convictions. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, and most police agencies, can see your expunged DUI conviction.

Is the lawyer you are about to call have 20 plus jury trials? Experience matters in criminal defense. Contact Jake today!

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