ARD Program in Pennsylvania: Eligibility, Costs, and Expungement

Pennsylvania’s ARD program, short for Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, is a pretrial diversion that lets certain defendants, mostly first-time offenders facing charges like DUI or minor drug possession, avoid a criminal conviction by completing court-ordered conditions over a supervision period of up to two years. Finish every requirement and the charges are dismissed and the record can be expunged. The catch is that you waive important constitutional rights to get in, and the process carries costs and license consequences that catch many participants off guard.

Who Qualifies

The District Attorney in the county where your charges were filed has sole discretion over whether to offer ARD. There is no right to participate, and eligibility is decided case by case. The program generally targets people without serious criminal histories facing non-violent charges. Typical ARD-eligible offenses include first-time DUI, minor drug possession, retail theft, and other low-level misdemeanors.¹

For DUI charges, Pennsylvania statute spells out who is automatically excluded. You cannot get ARD for a DUI if:

Someone other than you was killed or suffered serious bodily injury in a related accident.
A passenger under 14 years old was in the vehicle you were driving.
You have previously been accepted into an ARD program for a DUI offense.

These exclusions come from 75 Pa.C.S. § 3807, which governs ARD in DUI cases.²

Beyond those statutory bars, the DA weighs the nature of the offense, your criminal background, and any input from victims or the arresting officer. A victim’s objection does not automatically disqualify you, but it carries weight. Even if you check every box on paper, the DA can still say no, and that decision is largely unreviewable.

What You Give Up to Enter

Before the court admits you, the judge must confirm on the record that you are waiving your constitutional rights knowingly and voluntarily.² The specific rights vary slightly by county, but typically include your right to a speedy trial under Rule 600, your right to a formal arraignment, and your right to a preliminary hearing.³ You are also agreeing to supervision and to every condition the court imposes.

For most eligible defendants, ARD is a far better outcome than a conviction. But you are trading real legal protections for the chance to walk away with a clean record, and that trade only pays off if you complete the program.

How to Apply

The process starts early. In many counties, you need to submit your ARD application and waive your preliminary hearing before or at the time of that hearing. For DUI cases, some counties require the application within 30 days of the criminal complaint being filed. Deadlines differ by county, so check with the local DA’s office or your attorney as soon as charges are filed.

Once you apply, the DA’s office reviews the facts of your case, runs a background check, and may contact any victims for input. If the DA does not recommend you, your case moves toward trial. If the DA does recommend you, an ARD hearing is scheduled before a Court of Common Pleas judge.¹ At the hearing, the judge reviews your case, confirms your waivers, admits you into the program, and sets your specific conditions and supervision period.

Conditions During Supervision

Supervision can last up to two years, though DUI cases often run six to twelve months.¹ You report to a probation officer and must comply with every condition the court imposed. Common requirements include:

Community service, often a minimum of 10 hours.
Alcohol Highway Safety School for all DUI-related ARD, usually multiple sessions totaling around 12 to 16 hours of classroom instruction.
A Court Reporting Network (CRN) evaluation, mandatory for every DUI defendant in Pennsylvania. It is a pre-screening tool that determines whether you need a more comprehensive drug and alcohol assessment. It costs $100 and must be paid before or at the time of the evaluation.⁴
Drug and alcohol treatment if the CRN or a follow-up assessment recommends it.
A Victim Impact Panel, required in many counties for DUI cases.
Restitution to any victim for losses.

Courts may also add no-contact orders, a firearms ban during supervision, or random drug and alcohol testing. Judges have broad discretion to tailor conditions.

What ARD Costs

ARD is not free, and the total surprises many participants. Expenses stack across several categories: an acceptance fee paid to the DA’s office, monthly supervision fees, court costs, and the cost of mandated programs.

Acceptance fees vary by county and by whether the charge is DUI-related. In Dauphin County, the acceptance fee for a non-DUI case is $1,200 for non-indigent defendants and $500 for those who qualify as indigent. DUI cases run $1,500 and $750, respectively. These are separate from court costs and later supervision fees.¹

Monthly supervision fees typically fall between $25 and $60, depending on the county. Over a 12-month supervision period, that adds $300 to $720. Add the CRN evaluation, Alcohol Highway Safety School, any treatment costs, and court costs, and total out-of-pocket expenses for a DUI-related ARD can easily reach several thousand dollars. Every dollar has to be paid before the court will consider your case complete.

License Suspension for DUI ARD

If you enter ARD on a DUI charge, your driver’s license suspension depends on your blood alcohol content at the time of the offense. PennDOT applies a tiered system:⁵

BAC below 0.10%: no suspension.
BAC of 0.10% to less than 0.16%: 30-day suspension.
BAC of 0.16% or higher: 60-day suspension.

These are substantially shorter than what a DUI conviction produces, which is a major reason people pursue ARD. During suspension, you may be eligible for an ignition interlock limited license that allows you to drive with an interlock device installed.⁶

One detail to know: even after your criminal record is expunged, PennDOT retains the ARD entry on your driving record. Act 107 of 2022 states that expungement does not remove a record of admission into a preadjudication program from the driver record.⁷ Your criminal record will be clean, but PennDOT will still see the DUI-related ARD when they pull your driving history.

If You Hold a CDL

If you have a commercial driver’s license, entering ARD for a DUI is treated as a conviction for the purpose of commercial driving sanctions, even though it is not a criminal conviction. A first DUI-related ARD counts as a Major Traffic Offense under federal Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act rules. The result is a one-year CDL disqualification plus a 30-day suspension of your regular driving privilege. After the 30-day suspension, you can get a non-commercial license for the remainder of the disqualification, but you cannot drive commercially for the full year.⁸

The second-offense math is worse. If you were accepted into ARD for a DUI after September 30, 2005, and later receive a second DUI conviction, both count as Major Traffic Offenses. Two Major Traffic Offenses trigger a lifetime CDL disqualification. For professional drivers, ARD is a decision worth talking through carefully with an attorney.

Completion and Expungement

When you finish every condition and pay all costs and fees, the charges are dismissed. Under Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 319, you or your supervising agency files a motion supported by an affidavit confirming completion. The DA has 30 days to object. If no objection is filed, the judge dismisses the charges.⁹

For ARD cases completed after April 1, 2013, Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure 319 and 320 provide for automatic dismissal and expungement upon successful completion. Many counties handle this automatically once supervision ends and costs are paid.⁹ If your case predates April 1, 2013, or the automatic process did not run in your county, you need to file a formal petition for expungement with the Clerk of Courts.

Once expunged, the arrest and ARD records are removed from public criminal databases and you can truthfully say you have not been convicted of a crime. Remember that the PennDOT entry lives separately and stays on your driving history.⁷

How a Prior ARD Affects a Future DUI

For years, Pennsylvania law treated a prior ARD acceptance as a “prior offense” that enhanced mandatory sentences if you were later convicted of another DUI within ten years. That framework has been dismantled and rebuilt.

In 2020, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Chichkin that treating ARD as a prior offense for sentence enhancement violated due process, because ARD is a pretrial disposition that never involves a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.¹⁰ The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed that reasoning in Commonwealth v. Shifflett in 2025, holding the relevant portion of 75 Pa.C.S. § 3806(a) unconstitutional.

The legislature responded with Act 58 of 2025, signed by Governor Shapiro on December 22, 2025. Rather than restoring the old enhancement, Act 58 created a new approach: a person who commits a DUI within ten years after completing ARD commits a distinct statutory offense under a new provision, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(h), sometimes called “DUI following diversion.”¹¹ A prior ARD still carries consequences for repeat DUI conduct, but through a different legal mechanism than the old sentencing enhancement. A subsequent DUI within ten years of completing ARD now triggers a separate and more serious charge.

If You Are Denied or Removed

If your ARD application is rejected, your case moves forward through the normal criminal process. You can request reconsideration from the DA’s office in writing before your trial date, but there is no guarantee the decision will change.⁹

If you are accepted but fail to comply, you are removed from the program and the DA relists your case for trial on the original charges. A new arrest during supervision, missed treatment, failed drug tests, or unpaid costs and fees can all trigger removal.⁹ At that point, you face prosecution as if ARD never happened, except you have already waived your preliminary hearing and speedy trial rights, and any money you paid into the program is gone. Courts have no obligation to give you a second chance at the program.

1
Dauphin County. Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD)
2
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 Chapter 38 Section 3807 – Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition
3
Delaware County District Attorney. Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition
4
Montgomery County, PA. Court Reporting Network (CRN) Evaluation
5
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. DUI Legislation
6
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Apply for an Ignition Interlock Limited Drivers License
7
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Act 107 of 2022
8
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act (MCSIA) Frequently Asked Questions
9
Bucks County, PA. Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (A.R.D.)
10
Justia Law. Commonwealth v Chichkin – 2020 – Pennsylvania Superior Court Decisions
11
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Co-Sponsorship Memo Details