Sealing and expungement are two different things
If your case did not end in a conviction — dismissed, found not guilty, no true bill, no information filed — you are not looking for an expungement at all. You are looking for sealing under § 12-1-12.1, which is a far easier path: it does not care what else is on your record, and there is no waiting period.
Expungement, under Chapter 12-1.3, is for convictions. It has waiting periods, it counts your whole record, and it excludes certain offenses entirely.
The paths, in plain terms
- First offender — one conviction, nothing else on your record. Five years after you complete a misdemeanor sentence, ten after a felony. § 12-1.3-2(a), (d), (e).
- Two to five misdemeanors — no felonies, ten years since your last sentence closed, and ten clean years. § 12-1.3-2(b), (g).
- Two to four felonies — new since June 2026: no crime of violence, no prohibited offense, fifteen years from your last sentence and fifteen clean years. § 12-1.3-2(c), (h).
- Deferred sentence — expungeable on completion, with no five- or ten-year wait. § 12-1.3-2(f), § 12-19-19(c).
- Decriminalized offenses — no waiting period at all. § 12-1.3-2(i).
- Marijuana possession — automatic, and it overrides almost every normal bar. § 12-1.3-5.
- Traffic Tribunal and municipal court violations — automatic after three years, five for alcohol-related. § 31-41.1-10.
- Filings — automatically expunged when the filing period runs out. § 12-10-12(c).
- Prostitution and solicitation convictions — one year, and your prior record does not matter. § 11-34.1-5.
- Trafficking victims — a motion to vacate the conviction outright, not merely seal it. § 11-67.1-17.
Two bars that apply almost everywhere
A crime of violence, as Chapter 12-1.3 defines that term, cannot be expunged at all — not after five years, not after fifty. The definition is a specific statutory list, and it is not the same as what most people mean by a violent crime. It is worth reading the actual list before assuming you are on it.
Pending charges and unpaid money block the order. Any criminal proceeding pending anywhere stops an expungement, and so do outstanding court-imposed fines, fees, costs, assessments or restitution — unless the court reduces or waives them, which you are allowed to ask for.
Eligible to file is not the same as granted
Every path above gets you to the courthouse door. None of them gets you through it. Under § 12-1.3-3(b), the court "may, in its discretion" order the expungement, and only if it finds good moral character, that rehabilitation has been attained to the court's satisfaction, and that the order is consistent with the public interest.
That is why this site tells you whether you are eligible to file, and never tells you that you will win.
