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Which Traffic Tickets Stay on Your Driving Record Forever?

Traffic tickets such as DUI, No Insurance, and Driving While Suspended remain permanently on your Missouri driving record.

A regular speeding ticket stays on your driving record for only 3 years, but the following traffic violations stay on your Missouri driving record forever:

    • DUI or DWI
    • DUID (Driving Under the Influence of Drugs)
    • Excessive BAC (Blood Alcohol Content)
    • No Insurance
    • No Driver’s License (if state violation, not municipal)
    • Vehicular Manslaughter
    • Driving While Suspended or Revoked
    • Leaving the Scene of an Accident (if state violation, not municipal)
    • Any Felony

Why Do Some Speeding Tickets Remain Permanently On Your Driving Record?

If you receive an additional traffic ticket along with any of the “permanent” tickets listed above during the same traffic stop, both the permanent ticket and the additional ticket will stay on your driving record forever. For example, if you receive a DUI and a speeding ticket during the same traffic stop, both tickets will remain on your Missouri driving record forever if you are convicted of both offenses.

Exception:  A First-Time Misdemeanor DUI Conviction Can be Expunged After 10 Years

While it is true that a conviction for any of the traffic violations listed above will stay on your driving record forever, there is one exception:  It is possible to get a first-time misdemeanor DUI conviction expunged from both your criminal record and your driving record, if 10 years have passed since your conviction date with no other alcohol-related driving convictions or alcohol-related enforcement contacts/actions during that time. Click here to read my previous blog post about how to expunge a first-time DUI.

Keep Tickets Off Your Driving Record by Hiring a Traffic Law Attorney

In most cases, an experienced traffic law attorney can get all of these “permanent” tickets (DUI, Leaving the Scene of an Accident, Driving While Suspended, etc.) dismissed or reduced to non-moving, no-point violations that won’t affect your driving record or insurance rates.

Call St. Louis traffic law attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 to get a price quote for legal representation and an estimate of your fine & court costs. Or email Andrea at [email protected]

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How to Get a First-Time DUI Conviction Expunged in Missouri

You can get a first-time misdemeanor DUI conviction expunged from your criminal record in Missouri if 10 years have passed since your conviction date with no other alcohol-related driving convictions or alcohol-related enforcement contacts/actions during that time.

Expungement is not possible for felony DUIs or for anyone convicted of driving a commercial motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

Expungement is also not possible if you have already had a DUI expunged before.

What Does Expungement Mean?

Expungement is the removal of all court records of your arrest, plea, trial, or conviction. The only types of alcohol-related convictions that are eligible for expungement in Missouri are first-time DUI/DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) or MIP (Minor in Possession) convictions.

The Missouri DUI expungement law is RSMo 577.054. This law allows anyone who pleaded guilty to, or was convicted of, a first-time misdemeanor DUI to apply to have the court expunge the DUI charge 10 years after the conviction date, as long as the individual has had no other alcohol-related driving convictions, “alcohol-related enforcement contacts,” or any pending “alcohol-related enforcement actions” within the 10-year period since the conviction.

An “alcohol-related enforcement contact” includes DUI/DWI, DUID (Driving Under the Influence of Drugs), or Excessive BAC (Blood Alcohol Content).

Do You Have to Hire a Lawyer to Get a DUI Conviction Expunged?

You have the right to represent yourself in court, so you don’t have to hire a lawyer to request the expungement of your DUI conviction.

If you decide to represent yourself, you must file a petition for expungement in the court where you pleaded guilty or were convicted. Then you will have to attend a hearing before a judge. The City (or State, if your case is in Circuit Court) will be represented by the prosecuting attorney, who may present evidence against you if the City or State opposes your petition for expungement.

At the hearing, you will have to prove to the judge that you meet the requirements for expungement according to the statute. If you are successful, the court will enter an order of expungement, and all records of your DUI arrest, plea, trial, or conviction will be deleted from the court records.

How to Get a First-Time Misdemeanor DUI Conviction Expunged From Your Driving Record

If the judge agrees to expunge your first-time misdemeanor DUI conviction from your criminal record, you can then send proof to the Missouri Department of Revenue (Driver’s License Bureau) and request that they expunge your first-time misdemeanor DUI conviction from your driving record.

For a free consultation and price quote for legal representation for your traffic ticket or other criminal charge, call St. Louis traffic law attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 or email her at [email protected].