Employment

Some states have a mechanism to routinely clear DUI arrest records. And some states have a specific mechanism, either by statute or by case law to clear your DUI criminal record or traffic violation record. If you are found not guilty of DUI, a different process may apply, because penalties change drastically.

Even if some state process exists to clear your DUI arrest records, the chance always exists that not all references to your DUI arrest, accusation, trial, criminal conviction and acquittal can be removed from all possible databases. The federal government almost NEVER totally clears all of your criminal records.

Other states have no statute and poor legal authority to ever remove a prior DUI criminal conviction. Some states have no statutory process to remove the record of your DUI conviction from your criminal record, no matter what the circumstances. A good DUI lawyer will know the options available to you, and can help you in whatever process is available.

It is usually best to inform a potential employer about your prior DUI criminal conviction rather than to chance them finding the record of your DUI conviction. Deception on a DUI background check is usually considered to be worse than having made a mistake in your past. Clearly, the best report you can make to a prospective employer is that you were merely accused of DUI-DWI, but found NOT GUILTY. Thus an employer may see your DUI arrest records, but a DUI criminal conviction will not show up. Hence, the value of having a top-notch DUI-DWI defense specialist winning your case is of paramount importance.

Depending on your jurisdiction, this may be called a deferred adjudication, a diversion program, a probation before judgment (PBJ), a continuation without a finding of guilt (CWOF) or some other form of a plea in abeyance. A DUI criminal record can be managed and explained, and it doesn’t have to haunt you during job searches.