Rhode Island Expungement: Who Qualifies, Waiting Periods and How to File

Expungement under R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 12-1.3 is the sealing and retention of all records of a conviction or probation and the removal of those records from active files. The definition in § 12-1.3-1 covers court records, police records, the bureau of criminal identification and the probation department, including fingerprints, photographs and physical measurements. The attorney general's own files that the bureau does not keep in its ordinary course are not included.

Once a record is expunged, § 12-1.3-4 releases you from all penalties and disabilities that resulted from the conviction. On an application for employment, a license or any other civil right or privilege, you may state that you were never convicted of the crime. The same is true when you appear as a witness.

Four kinds of applications are exceptions, and you must still disclose the conviction for them. They are a law enforcement agency position, admission to the bar of any court, a teaching or coaching certificate, and operating or working at an early childhood education facility.

The custodian of an expunged record may not disclose it on inquiry from any source. The statute allows a few exceptions: you, a sentencing court after a later conviction, a bar admission or disciplinary body, and the commissioner of elementary and secondary education. A law enforcement agency may also learn of it when a prior conviction for the same offense would change the nature of a new charge. An agency or person who willfully refuses to carry out an expungement, or willfully releases an expunged record, is civilly liable.

One limit matters. If you are convicted of a new crime later, § 12-1.3-4(a) allows the expunged conviction to be considered as a prior conviction when the new sentence is set.

Rhode Island has several routes to expungement of a conviction. Each has its own eligibility test under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2.

First offender, single conviction. A first offender is a person convicted of one felony or one misdemeanor who has never before been convicted of or placed on probation for a felony or misdemeanor. The person must also have no criminal case pending in any court. The definition is in § 12-1.3-1(3). A first offender may move to expunge the conviction in the court where it was entered. All outstanding court-imposed fees, fines, costs, assessments and charges must be paid, unless the court reduced or waived them.

Multiple misdemeanors. Under § 12-1.3-2(b), a person with more than one misdemeanor but fewer than six, and no felony conviction, may move to expunge any or all of them. Three kinds of convictions are excluded from this route. They are domestic violence crimes under chapter 29 of title 12, driving under the influence under § 31-27-2 and chemical test refusal under § 31-27-2.1.

Completed deferred sentence. A person who completed a deferred sentence agreement in Superior Court may move to expunge the records on completion. The waiting periods do not apply, under § 12-1.3-2(e) and § 12-19-19(c). Our post on Rhode Island deferred sentence terms and completion explains what completion requires.

Decriminalized offenses. A person convicted of an offense that was later decriminalized may move to expunge it under § 12-1.3-2(g) without regard to the other subsections. Possession-only marijuana convictions for conduct since decriminalized are also covered by a separate automatic expungement statute, § 12-1.3-5.

Crimes of violence are never expunged. The ban applies to the single-conviction route and to deferred sentences for those crimes. Section 12-1.3-1(1) lists the crimes of violence:

A reclassified charge can help. Under § 12-1.3-1(5), 'misdemeanor' includes a crime that was a felony when you were sentenced but has since been reclassified as a misdemeanor by the General Assembly.

A person with one felony and one misdemeanor fits neither the first-offender test nor the multiple-misdemeanor route as the statute is written. For that record, the deferred-sentence and decriminalized-offense routes are the ones to check.

The waiting period runs from the date you completed the sentence, not from the date of conviction or arrest. The table shows when a motion may be filed under each route.

The look-back at the hearing is measured differently. For a misdemeanor the judge looks at the five years before the motion, and for a felony the 10 years before it. The question is whether you were convicted or arrested in that window.

Filing on time is not enough on its own. Section 12-1.3-3(b) makes the order discretionary. It lists what the judge must find after a hearing at which all relevant testimony and information is considered.

For the multiple-misdemeanor route, the look-back is the 10 years before the motion, with no conviction or arrest, nothing pending and good moral character. For a deferred sentence, the court must find that you complied with every term of the deferral agreement. That includes full payment of fines, fees, costs, assessments and restitution. The court must also find that nothing is pending and that you have established good moral character.

Note the word arrest. An arrest within the look-back period counts even if the charge was dismissed. The judge also weighs rehabilitation and the public interest. The hearing is the place to show what has changed since the conviction, such as work history, education, treatment and community ties.

The process is set by R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2 and § 12-1.3-3. These are the statutory steps.

1. Confirm eligibility. Pull your record and identify every conviction, the court, the sentence and the completion date. Confirm that nothing is pending and that all court money is paid.
2. File the motion in the court of conviction. A District Court conviction is expunged in that District Court division, and a Superior Court conviction is expunged in Superior Court. Ask the clerk's office about the current filing fee when you file.
3. Give notice. You must notify the department of the attorney general and the police department that originally brought the charge. The notice states the hearing date and must be given at least 10 days before the hearing.
4. Attend the hearing. The judge considers all relevant testimony and information and applies the findings listed above.
5. Receive the order. If the court grants the motion, it orders all records of the conviction expunged and all index and other references removed from public inspection. A copy of the order goes to every law enforcement agency and other agency known by you, the attorney general or the court to hold the records. Compliance follows the terms the court sets.
6. Claim any bail money. At the hearing you will be advised that bail money still on deposit and not claimed at the time of expungement escheats to the state's general treasury.

For a decriminalized offense, the court holds a hearing to confirm that the sentence was completed and all fines, fees and costs were paid. It then orders the expungement without cost. The court may ask you to show that the conviction qualifies as decriminalized under current law, for example by affidavit.

In Providence County, a District Court conviction is handled at the Garrahy Judicial Complex and a Superior Court conviction at the Licht Judicial Complex. A missed notice or an unpaid assessment can delay the motion. We pull the record, give the required notices and appear at the hearing with you. For a case that is still open, see our Rhode Island criminal defense lawyer page.

Expungement is for convictions. A case that ended in your favor is handled by sealing under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1-12 and § 12-1-12.1.

Automatic sealing of Rule 48(a) dismissals. A case dismissed under District Court Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a) on or after January 1, 2023 is sealed automatically, with no motion. The seal takes effect not less than 10 and not more than 20 days after the dismissal. The seal covers the court records and the records of the division of criminal identification. A Rule 48(a) dismissal entered before January 1, 2023 is sealed administratively by the clerk at your request. The clerk sends that sealing order to the bureau of criminal identification within five days, and the sealing is carried out within 90 days of receipt.

Sealing by motion. If you were acquitted or otherwise exonerated of all counts, you may move to seal the court records. That includes a dismissal not covered above, a no true bill and a no information. You give notice of the hearing date to the attorney general and the arresting police department at least 10 days before the hearing. If the court finds you are entitled to sealing, it orders the records sealed. The clerk places them under seal within 45 days of the order.

Identification records. Under § 12-1-12(a), fingerprints, photographs and other identification records taken on arrest must be destroyed within 60 days after the case ends in your favor. That covers an acquittal, dismissal, no true bill, no information or other exoneration. The same rule applies to a person detained but not charged, and to a filed complaint once the filing period has expired.

Domestic violence filings. A domestic violence complaint placed on file under § 12-10-12 cannot be expunged, sealed or destroyed for three years from the filing date. The rule is in § 12-1-12(c) and § 12-1-12.1(c), and it applies whether the plea was not guilty, guilty or nolo contendere. Our post on Rhode Island criminal filing conditions and records explains how a filing works.

As with expungement, you will be advised at a sealing hearing that unclaimed bail money escheats to the state.

People use the two words interchangeably. In Rhode Island they are different statutes with different tests, and the right one depends on how your case ended. A complaint filed under § 12-10-12 that ran its course is expunged automatically. A deferred sentence that was completed goes through the expungement motion process.

Massachusetts uses a sealing system under M.G.L. c. 276, § 100A with its own waiting periods and exceptions. An applicant with a sealed Massachusetts record may answer 'no record' on applications for employment, housing or an occupational or professional license. A Rhode Island expungement does not reach a Massachusetts record, and a Massachusetts sealing does not reach a Rhode Island one. If you have cases in both states, each must be handled under its own law. Our page on sealing criminal records in Massachusetts explains that process.