Adult Conviction Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility in Rhode Island
At a glance
| Relief name and legal effect | Expungement means sealing and retaining the record, removing it from active files and public inspection—not destruction. It releases ordinary penalties and disabilities, but the conviction remains usable at later sentencing (§§ 12-1.3-1(2), 12-1.3-4(a)). |
|---|---|
| Automatic or clean-slate relief | No general automatic conviction-clearing route. Possession-only marijuana convictions and civil violations that were later decriminalized were a narrow automatic exception, with all eligible records due to be expunged before July 1, 2024 (§ 12-1.3-5(a)–(b)). |
| Convictions eligible by petition | First offender: one felony or misdemeanor. Multiple routes: 2–5 misdemeanors and, under the June 22, 2026 amendment, 2–4 felonies; deferred sentences and later-decriminalized offenses have separate motion routes (§ 12-1.3-2(a)–(i)). |
| Excluded offenses and statuses | Single-conviction relief excludes crimes of violence. The multiple-misdemeanor route excludes chapter 29 of title 12, DUI, and refusal convictions and bars specified felony history; multiple-felony relief also excludes violent and listed prohibited offenses and is a one-time use (§§ 12-1.3-1(1), (6), 12-1.3-2(a)–(c)). |
| Waiting period and when it starts | From sentence completion: 5 years for one misdemeanor; 10 years for one felony; 10 years from the last sentence for multiple misdemeanors; 15 years from the last sentence for multiple felonies. A deferred-sentence motion may follow completion (§ 12-1.3-2(d)–(h)). |
| Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions | Single route requires monetary obligations paid, reduced, or waived and no arrest or conviction during the 5- or 10-year lookback. Multiple routes require no arrest or conviction during the 10- or 15-year lookback; every route requires no pending criminal proceeding and the applicable good-character showing (§§ 12-1.3-2(a), 12-1.3-3(b)(1)). |
| Petition process and decision standard | File in the court of conviction; notify the Attorney General and originating police at least 10 days before the hearing. The court may grant relief in its discretion after finding the statutory record, rehabilitation to its satisfaction, and consistency with the public interest (§§ 12-1.3-2, 12-1.3-3(a)–(b)). |
| Who can still see or use the record | The person may ordinarily deny the conviction, but must disclose for law-enforcement employment, bar admission, teaching, coaching, and early-childhood work. The person, later sentencing courts, specified bar/education bodies, and law enforcement in specified repeat-offense matters retain access (§ 12-1.3-4). |
| Boundaries and alternative relief | Covers chapter 12-1.3 adult conviction expungement. Deferred sentences and later-decriminalized offenses have separate motion rules; possession-only marijuana automation is a narrow exception. Juvenile, nonconviction, pardon, innocence, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state relief remain outside scope. |
Requirements one by one
Relief name and legal effect
Rhode Island calls the remedy expungement, but § 12-1.3-1 defines it as “the sealing and retention” of the record and its removal from active files. The record is not destroyed. Section 12-1.3-4 releases the person from ordinary penalties and disabilities arising from the conviction, while preserving use of the conviction when a later criminal sentence is imposed.
Automatic or clean-slate relief
There is no general automatic route for adult convictions. Section 12-1.3-5 is the narrow exception: possession-only marijuana convictions and civil violations for conduct later decriminalized were entitled to automatic expungement, with all eligible records due to be processed before July 1, 2024. That route applies despite other arrests or convictions, pending proceedings, or unpaid court obligations tied to the eligible marijuana record.
Convictions eligible by petition
Section 12-1.3-2 has separate tracks. A “first offender” may move to expunge one felony or misdemeanor conviction. A person with more than one but fewer than six misdemeanors may seek any or all of those misdemeanor records, subject to the stated exclusions.
Public Laws chapter 171, effective June 22, 2026, added the multiple-felony track. A person with more than one but fewer than five felonies may seek any or all eligible felony records if the violent-offense, prohibited-offense, and other statutory exclusions are satisfied.
Excluded offenses and statuses
A crime of violence cannot be expunged through the single-conviction route. The multiple-felony route also excludes “other prohibited offenses,” including specified serious assaults and child-victim crimes, weapons offenses, human-trafficking offenses, injury hit-and-run, dangerous driving resulting in death, and DUI resulting in death. It also excludes chapter 29 of title 12, § 31-27-2, and § 31-27-2.1 convictions.
The multiple-misdemeanor route excludes chapter 29 of title 12, § 31-27-2, and § 31-27-2.1 convictions. Its amended eligibility clause also bars the specified violent or prohibited felony history.
The number limit matters. The statutory phrases “more than one” and “fewer than six” mean two through five misdemeanors; “more than one” and “fewer than five” mean two through four felonies.
Waiting period and when it starts
The clock begins when the sentence is completed, not on the conviction date. The current periods are:
- one misdemeanor: five years after sentence completion;
- one felony: ten years after sentence completion;
- multiple misdemeanors: ten years after completion of the last sentence; and
- multiple felonies: fifteen years after completion of the last sentence.
A deferred-sentence motion may be filed upon completion of the deferral.
Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions
For a single conviction, outstanding court-imposed or court-related monetary obligations must be paid unless the court reduces or waives them. The hearing standard separately requires no felony or misdemeanor arrest or conviction during the applicable five- or ten-year period, no pending criminal proceeding, and good moral character.
The multiple-misdemeanor and multiple-felony routes likewise require an arrest-free and conviction-free lookback for ten or fifteen years, no pending criminal proceeding, and the required good-character finding. A completed sentence starts the clock, but completion alone does not satisfy those separate conditions.
Petition process and decision standard
The motion is filed in the court where the conviction occurred. Under § 12-1.3-3, the person must notify the Attorney General and the police department that originally brought the charge at least ten days before the hearing.
Relief is discretionary. The court must be satisfied that rehabilitation has been attained and that expungement is consistent with the public interest. The June 2026 amendment expressly permits consideration of background, employment, community ties, community involvement, and other relevant matters, while providing that no single factor controls.
Who can still see or use the record
Section 12-1.3-4 generally permits the person to state that the expunged conviction never occurred. Disclosure remains required for a law-enforcement job, bar admission, a teaching or coaching certificate, and work operating or staffing an early-childhood education facility.
Custodians ordinarily may not disclose the record. Statutory exceptions cover the person, a later sentencing court, specified bar-admission and disciplinary bodies, the elementary and secondary education commissioner, and law enforcement when a repeat offense would affect the nature or character of the new charge.
Boundaries and alternative relief
Section 12-1.3-2 separately permits a motion after completion of a deferred sentence and a motion for an offense decriminalized after conviction. Those routes have their own hearing conditions. The possession-only marijuana automation in § 12-1.3-5 is narrower than a general clean-slate law.
Juvenile, nonconviction, pardon, innocence-based, federal, military, tribal, and out-of-state remedies are outside this survey.
What trips people up
The current compiled code has not yet caught up. The official compiled pages for §§ 12-1.3-1 through -3 still display the law before chapter 171. H 7079A was signed June 22, 2026 and took effect upon passage, so the enacted act supplies the current multiple-felony route, prohibited-offense definition, and decision factors.
Multiple-felony relief can close the door on the remaining felonies. After a successful multiple-felony expungement, § 12-1.3-2 says the person may not later expunge the remainder of otherwise eligible felony offenses.
An arrest can break the clean-record period. The hearing criteria refer to both arrests and convictions, not convictions alone, during the applicable lookback.
Common questions
What happens to unclaimed bail money at the hearing? The court must advise the person that bail money still on deposit and unclaimed at expungement is transferred to the state general treasury.
Can a person obtain their own expunged record? Section 12-1.3-4 permits a custodian to respond to an inquiry from the person whose record was expunged.
Does the marijuana route erase other counts in the same case? No. Section 12-1.3-5 requires the order to identify which counts are expunged and leaves ineligible counts and their records unaffected.
Statutes and sources
- 2026 R.I. Public Laws chapter 171, § 1 (H 7079A) — current amendments to §§ 12-1.3-1 through -3, including multiple felonies, exclusions, waits, and hearing factors. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText26/HouseText26/H7079A.pdf (accessed 2026-08-08)
- Rhode Island General Assembly H 7079 bill history — Chapter 171 and June 22, 2026 signature. https://status.rilegislature.gov/bill_history_report.aspx?bills=7079&year=2026 (accessed 2026-07-20)
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-4 — legal effect, disclosure answers, retained access, and later-sentencing use. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/statutes/title12/12-1.3/12-1.3-4.htm (accessed 2026-08-08)
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-5 — possession-only marijuana automatic expungement, eligibility overrides, count-by-count treatment, and legal effect. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE12/12-1.3/12-1.3-5.htm (accessed 2026-08-08)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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