Being charged with a DUI can be an alarming incident in a person’s life, particularly if it was either unfounded or at least a marginal case.
What is a DUI?
A DUI is a penalty charge made at a person who is found to be driving under the influence. Driving under the influence can be related to driving while intoxicated by either alcohol or drugs. Those drugs can also be prescription drugs. If the alcohol or drugs in your body have seriously impaired your ability to drive safely and you are found to be driving with too high a level of any substance that causes that in your blood, you can be charged and convicted.
If you are convicted of a DUI, you’re subject to the penalties of the state you are in. These can vary greatly, but it can happen that a person who has been convicted of a DUI can be sent to prison should the offence have caused harm to another person or if it is a repeat offence.
What does expunge mean?
Expunge means to remove or take out. Legally, therefore if a person seeks a DUI to be expunged — in Virginia or elsewhere — it means that they want a DUI conviction to be removed from their record completely.
People seek to expunge a DUI from their record as it can seriously impact their ability to get a job. This can be for practical reasons, for example a potential job opportunity may require a clean driving licence as the job needs a high amount of driving in it. Companies will be loath to pay for insurance for a person with a driving conviction on their record.
Secondly, some employers will deem a DUI as a criminal conviction like any other. Many employers require a clean criminal record to be hired, so those with a DUI on theirs may look to have it expunged to help in their job search.
Expunging a DUI in Virginia
So can a DUI be expunged in Virginia? A DUI is a matter of public record, however a person can seek to have it expunged so that no record of it happening exists anymore. However, that can only happen in relation to a DUI in Virginia where the charges were dropped or the case was dismissed for any reason. Additionally, if you were found not guilty of a DUI in Virginia, you can also seek for the record to be expunged.
Getting a DUI expunged in Virginia
Getting a DUI expunged in Virginia is possible if you meet the relevant criteria for it to be removed from public record. However, if you were charged and convicted of driving under the influence then you will not be able to have the record removed and it will remain there.
Virginia has some of the toughest laws when it comes to DUIs, which is why having an expungement of such a charge is so difficult there. Other states will allow convictions to be expunged, which is definitely not the case in Virginia. Therefore, if you do get convicted, it will remain on your and the public’s record indefinitely.
DUI laws in Virginia
DUI laws vary from state to state. In Virginia, that means when you are charged with a DUI can be different to other states as well as the penalty you are faced with if you are convicted. In fact, it’s common in Virginia for the term DUI to be replaced with DWI which means driving while intoxicated. In practical terms, they can mean the same thing and are used interchangeably.
Virginia sees how much alcohol is in a person’s blood as a means of testing whether they were driving under the influence or not. Therefore, if a person in Virginia is pulled over while driving and found to have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or more, they can be charged with a DUI.
If found and convicted of a DUI while in Virginia, an individual can face jail time of anything from 90 days to 5 years, a fine of up to $2500 and an indefinite license suspension. These are seen as the upper limits of the penalties enforced for this crime. Lower penalties are given to people with no prior offences.