Who can expunge multiple misdemeanors in Rhode Island
This path is for people who are not first offenders. It covers anyone convicted of more than one misdemeanor but fewer than six, who "has not been convicted of a felony, which is a crime of violence or other prohibited offenses, as defined in this chapter." You may move to expunge any or all of those misdemeanors.
Six or more misdemeanors takes you off this path. So does a felony conviction that is a crime of violence or an other prohibited offense. Any other felony no longer does.
Before June 2026 the law said simply "has not been convicted of a felony." The 2026 act inserted the words "which is a crime of violence or other prohibited offenses," and the Legislative Council's explanation of the act says it permits people "convicted of multiple felonies and misdemeanors to have their records expunged." So an ordinary felony on your record does not stop you expunging your misdemeanors on this path.
The felony itself is a separate matter. This path reaches only misdemeanors, and a single felony alongside other cases has no path of its own.
Count carefully before you rule yourself out. Dismissed cases, already-sealed cases, and multiple counts from one incident can change the math, and the count is a legal question rather than a memory test.
The ten-year wait: two clocks, and both have to run
This is where people get caught. There are two separate ten-year requirements, and satisfying one does not satisfy the other.
The first clock: ten years "from the date of the completion of their last sentence" — the most recent one, not the oldest.
The second clock: in the ten years before you file, you have not been convicted nor arrested for any felony or misdemeanor.
Someone whose last probation closed two years ago has not satisfied the first clock, even if nothing new has happened since. Someone arrested last year has not satisfied the second, even if their last sentence ended in 2010.
Every fine, fee, cost and assessment has to be paid before the court will grant the motion. The clock runs from the completion of your last sentence, and a sentence with money still owing on it is not complete.
DUI, refusal and domestic cases: excluded from this path
The law carves out three kinds of offense, which "are not eligible for and may not be expunged under this subsection":
- Driving under the influence.
- Refusal to submit to a chemical test.
- Domestic violence offenses.
If one of those is on your record
The carve-out is specific to this path. Those offenses can still be expunged on the first-offender path — but that path requires no prior conviction or probation, which is the very thing that put you here.
Your other misdemeanors may still qualify individually.
If what you are trying to clear is a Traffic Tribunal refusal rather than a criminal conviction, a different law applies, and it happens on its own.
The law behind this page
- The multiple-misdemeanor path, and which felonies bar it: R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2(b), as amended by P.L. 2026 (H 7079 Sub A / S 3036 Sub A).
- Ten years from the completion of your last sentence: § 12-1.3-2(g).
- Ten clean years: § 12-1.3-3(b)(1)(iii).
- The three excluded offenses: § 12-1.3-2(b) — DUI (§ 31-27-2), chemical-test refusal (§ 31-27-2.1), and domestic offenses under chapter 12-29.
- The first-offender definition this path sets aside: § 12-1.3-1(3).
- Traffic Tribunal refusals clear on their own: § 31-41.1-10.
