QUESTION: A year ago, I was convicted of a drunk driving offense, and have now completed my sentence, but the conviction is causing major issues for employment, school loans, home loans and security clearances. I even lost my job because I couldn't renew my security clearance. How can I get that owi conviction off of my record?
expungement defined
An expungement occurs when a previous criminal charge is removed from a person's public criminal record, or the record of that conviction is sealed.
what can be expunged?
Without exception, a previous felony conviction cannot be expunged from a person's record under Wisconsin law.
Misdemeanors however can be expunged in one of two ways:
If the original court that entered the judgment of conviction and sentence also included in its orders provisions to the effect that the charge could be expunged if all conditions of sentencing (including all conditions of probation and fines) were met, then the convicted person can return to that court and ask that the record be expunged after all conditions are met provided no other reasons exist to prevent Expungement. Courts rarely order Expungement, and when they do, it is only in situations in which the crime for which the person was convicted occured when the person was under the age of 21 years.
If the original court did not order an Expungement of the defendant's record, then the defendant must request consideration for an Expungement. That process begins with a complete review of the defendant's record. After a review of the case, an Expungement attorney will be able to tell you the next steps involved in pursuing the expungement. NOTE: The convicted person must have been under the age of 21 years at the time that the crime was committed for which he or she was convicted; even then, there are no guarantees that the Expungement will make it before a judge.
Additionally, the convicted person must have been under the age of 21 years at the time that the crime was committed, must not have had any subsequent convictions, must not have any current charges pending and must show both that he or she will not harm society and will benefit from the Expungement.
pardons
A pardon by the governor is a separate process outside of the judicial system. An expungement attorney will also be able to help you with the process of pursuing such a pardon.
owi expungment
Expungement of a drunk driving conviction is handled differently than other misdemeanor convictions.
A conviction for a first OWI offense will be automatically purged after ten years provided the convicted person's PAC (prohibited alcohol content) level was .08 to .099 and there are no future drunk driving convictions. If it was higher, the conviction will never be expunged. All other OWI convictions are permanent, and cannot be expunged.
A felony OWI or vehicular homicide can never be expunged from a person's record.
owi-dui.com can help
Wiscosnin's Best Drunk Driving Defense Attorneys are represented on owi-dui.com. If a court ordered the expungement of your conviction upon successful completion of your sentence, or if you were only convicted of one OWI in the past ten years and your record has not been purged, please contact an expungmenet attorney today by using the online form. At this time, expungement cases are only accepted via the form. Please also see Wisconsin Expungement for further information.
