suhrelaw | January 31, 2017 | OVI Defense

Short answer, no. In Ohio, the law currently allows a person with one eligible felony and one eligible misdemeanor conviction to have the records sealed. The statute allowing convictions to be sealed has some exceptions. One important one is that no traffic offenses can be sealed. An OVI or DUI in Ohio is a traffic offense. The statute also says that a DUI or OVI is specifically not able to be sealed or expunged.

This is why it is so important to have a DUI lawyer look at your case to evaluate whether the facts lend themselves to defenses to the charge. If you can beat the case or have your lawyer negotiate to have it reduced it will benefit you. However, even reckless driving will not be able to be sealed because it is also a traffic offense.

It is also often not well understood how points work in Ohio on your driving history. Nothing ever drops off your driving records when it comes to convictions unless they are appealed or overturned somehow. Said another way, once a conviction makes its way onto your driving record it is on there forever. Points also never go away, but work such that if you reach 12 points in any 24 months period the BMV will give you a 12-point suspension and the count toward a new 12 point suspension starts over.

If you do not get 12 points in a 24 months period the points will remain in order of conviction date and become irrelevant for suspension purposes after each set of points’ 24 months anniversary. However, an employer or insurance company for instance might look back up to 5 years in some cases to offer safe driving discounts, coverage, or employment.

Records of non-conviction are not subject to the same prohibition against sealing. For instance, if your DUI was dismissed or you won at trial, there is still a record of that. This record can be sealed by application without an application fee by contacting the clerk of courts where the offense occurred such as Dayton Ohio Municipal Court, Vandalia Municipal Court, Miamisburg Municipal Court, Montgomery County Court, Fairborn Municipal Court, or Xenia.

This is at the discretion of the judge and may require you to be present for a hearing. Be aware that even if you have a record of conviction for an offense or non-offense sealed there are certain look through provisions that allow certain people to see the records. You will want to consult with a lawyer if you have questions about your eligibility to have records sealed.