Expunging an offense that is no longer a crime
If the offense you were convicted of was decriminalized after the date of your conviction, you may move to expunge the records related to it. The court holds a hearing in the court of the original conviction.
This path applies "[n]otwithstanding" the first-offender rules and the five- and ten-year waits. It does not reach two later subsections of the same law, listed at the bottom of this page.
What the court must find
After a hearing, the court must find that all conditions of the original criminal sentence have been completed and that all fines, fees and costs related to the conviction have been paid in full. Then it orders the expungement, and orders it "without cost to the petitioner."
So there is no waiting period, but there is still a completion requirement. Finish the sentence and clear the balance, and you can file immediately.
Proving your offense was decriminalized
The court "may require the petitioner to demonstrate that the prior criminal conviction would qualify as a decriminalized offense under current law." That showing "may include, but is not limited to, an affidavit signed by the petitioner" attesting to that fact.
In other words, your own affidavit can be part of the showing.
Marijuana possession has its own path
Marijuana possession has its own, more generous law, which makes the expungement automatic and overrides prior convictions, pending charges and unpaid fines. If that is your offense, start there.
That law says nothing in it restricts or modifies your right to have records expunged otherwise, so it does not take this path away.
The law behind this page
- The decriminalized-offense path, which applies notwithstanding subsections (a) through (f) — first-offender status and the five- and ten-year waits in (d) and (e) — but does not reach subsections (g) and (h): R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2(i).
- The hearing, the completed-sentence and paid-in-full findings, the order without cost, and the petitioner's affidavit: § 12-1.3-3(e).
- Marijuana possession, and the rule that it does not restrict other expungement rights: § 12-1.3-5 and § 12-1.3-5(h).
