What counts as domestic violence in Rhode Island
Domestic violence is not a separate crime. It is an ordinary charge — simple assault, disorderly conduct, vandalism, trespass, violating a no-contact or protective order, stalking and others — when it is committed against a family or household member.
That includes a spouse or former spouse, a relative by blood or marriage, someone you live with or lived with in the last three years, someone you have a child with, and someone you have dated or been engaged to in the last year. If your paperwork marks the case as domestic, this page is about you.
Expunging a domestic violence conviction: the five-year rule
Yes. A domestic conviction that is the only thing on your record can be expunged five years after your sentence ends.
In a domestic case the sentence is usually probation, with a batterer's intervention program as a condition. The five years start when it ends.
You also need no new arrest or conviction for a felony or misdemeanor in the five years before you file, no open cases, and every fine and fee paid.
"First offense" is strict. Any earlier conviction — or any earlier case where you were put on probation — counts.
A recent result
This year the firm had a domestic violence case expunged on the first-offender path. It was the client's first offense — a nolo plea with probation, which is not a conviction — and five years had run from the end of probation.
Every case turns on its own record, and a past result does not guarantee the same outcome in yours.
Domestic violence plus other convictions: why it stays
Then the domestic conviction stays on your record. Rhode Island's paths for people with more than one conviction — two to five misdemeanors, or two to four felonies — both say domestic violence convictions "are not eligible for and may not be expunged" under them.
Your other convictions are a different story. The rule blocks the domestic conviction, not you. If you also have, say, a shoplifting conviction, that one can still come off on the usual timeline.
Domestic violence filings in RI: the three-year rule
A domestic filing works differently from every other filing. An ordinary filing clears when the filing period ends. A domestic filing is held for three years from the date it was filed.
After three years it comes off automatically — nothing to file — as long as you were not charged with another domestic violence crime in that time, or if you were, you were found not guilty or the charge was dismissed.
Deferred sentences on domestic charges
A deferred sentence runs for whatever period the agreement sets, up to five years. When it ends and the court finds you did everything the agreement required — the program and every payment included — you can ask to have it expunged right away. Domestic cases are not excluded from this path.
Dismissed or not guilty: sealing a domestic charge
Then you are not looking at expungement at all. You are looking at sealing, and the three-year hold does not apply — it is only for filings.
If a District Court case was dismissed under Rule 48(a) on or after January 1, 2023, it was sealed automatically within twenty days. An older District Court dismissal is sealed by the clerk if you ask. A not-guilty verdict or any other dismissal is sealed by filing a motion.
What the judge has to find
Qualifying gets you a hearing, not a guaranteed result. The judge decides, and has to find good character, that you have been rehabilitated, and that clearing the record is in the public interest. In a domestic case, expect the judge to look for the program finished and a clean record since.
The law behind this page
- Who counts as domestic: R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-29-2.
- The batterer's program as a condition of probation: § 12-29-5(a).
- Only conviction, five years: § 12-1.3-2(a) and (d); § 12-1.3-3(b)(1)(i).
- Domestic convictions excluded from the multiple-conviction paths: § 12-1.3-2(b) and (c).
- Filed domestic cases: § 12-1-12.1(c), § 12-1-12(c), § 12-29-4(d) and § 12-10-12(d).
- Deferred sentences: § 12-19-19 and § 12-1.3-2(f).
- Sealing after a dismissal or not-guilty verdict: § 12-1-12.1.
- The judge's decision: § 12-1.3-3(b).
