Can a DUI Be Expunged in Pennsylvania? ARD, Sealing, and Pardons

Yes, a DUI can be expunged in Pennsylvania, but only in specific situations. The most common path is completing the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program, which is available primarily to first-time offenders and ends with the charges being dismissed and the arrest record expunged. If you were convicted at trial or pleaded guilty without going through ARD, full expungement is much harder to obtain, but Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate law now lets many DUI convictions be sealed from public view after seven conviction-free years.

ARD: The Main Route to a Clean Record

ARD is a pretrial diversion program that suspends prosecution of your DUI while you complete court-ordered conditions. Finish everything, and the judge is required to order your arrest record expunged when the charges are dismissed.¹

The mechanics run in two steps. After you satisfy all program conditions, you file a motion asking the court to dismiss the charges under Pa.R.Crim.P. 319, supported by your own affidavit and a certification from your program supervisor confirming completion.² The District Attorney has 30 days to object. If no objection is filed, the judge dismisses the charges and orders expungement.

If the DA objects, the court schedules a hearing where both sides argue.¹ Objections are uncommon for DUI cases, but they do happen, particularly when someone picks up new charges during the program or fails to meet conditions on time.

What ARD Requires

Conditions vary by county, but the core is consistent: DUI education classes (typically around 12 hours), a drug and alcohol evaluation, treatment if the evaluation recommends it, a period of probation, court costs and program fees, and a possible driver’s license suspension from zero to 90 days depending on blood alcohol level and circumstances. Refusing a breath test, causing an accident, or being under 21 pushes the suspension toward the higher end.

If you fail to complete ARD, you lose the diversion and get prosecuted on the original charge. A conviction at that stage carries mandatory jail time and a license suspension, and you lose eligibility for ARD expungement.

Clean Slate: Sealing a DUI Conviction

If you were convicted of a DUI and did not go through ARD, full expungement is generally off the table. Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate law offers an alternative called “limited access,” which seals the conviction from most public view. Sealing is not the same as expungement. The record still exists, but it becomes invisible on standard background checks and remains accessible only to law enforcement and certain government agencies.

Under 18 Pa.C.S. 9122.1, you can petition for limited access if you have been conviction-free for seven years, you have paid all court-ordered restitution, and your offense qualifies. A qualifying offense must be a misdemeanor or ungraded offense carrying a maximum penalty of no more than five years.³ Most first-offense DUI convictions are misdemeanors with a maximum sentence of six months, so they fall well within this threshold.⁴

The petition goes to the Court of Common Pleas in the county where you were convicted, along with the limited access fee and filing fee. If the court grants it, employers, landlords, and the general public can no longer see the record.

What Does Not Qualify for Sealing

DUI convictions graded as felonies of the first or second degree are excluded, though this grading almost never applies to a standard DUI. Offenses involving danger to the person under certain chapters, crimes against the family, and firearms offenses also cannot be sealed.³ For most people whose only concern is a DUI conviction, these exceptions will not apply.

Other Paths

ARD and Clean Slate cover the vast majority of DUI cases, but a few narrower routes exist.

Unconditional Pardon

An unconditional pardon from the Governor makes your conviction eligible for expungement under 18 Pa.C.S. 9122(a)(2.1).⁵ The Board of Pardons transmits pardon records to the courts quarterly, and the court then orders expungement automatically. The application itself costs under $50, though the process takes years and requires demonstrating significant rehabilitation.

Age 70 or Older

If you are 70 or older and have been free from arrest or prosecution for ten years after your final release from supervision, your criminal history may be expunged.⁵ A family member may also petition on behalf of an individual who has been deceased for three years.

Non-Conviction Records

If your DUI charge was dropped, dismissed outside of ARD, or resulted in an acquittal, you can seek expungement of the non-conviction data by court order under 18 Pa.C.S. 9122(a)(2).⁵ Similarly, if no disposition has been recorded within 18 months of arrest and the court certifies that nothing is pending, the record should be expunged.

Filing the Petition

Outside the automatic ARD expungement under Rule 320, you have to file a petition yourself. It goes to the Clerk of Courts in the county where your case was handled and must include your name, any aliases, date of birth, Social Security number, the docket number, the date of arrest or citation, the specific charges you want expunged, the disposition, and your reasons for requesting expungement.⁶ You must sign a verification that everything is true.

Unless the DA waives it, you also need to attach a current Pennsylvania State Police criminal history report. Current means obtained within 60 days before filing.⁶ Without it, the judge cannot rule. Order the report online through the PSP PATCH system or by mailing Form SP 4-164 with a $22 fee.⁷

Serve a copy of the petition on the District Attorney’s office at the same time you file it.⁶ The DA can support the petition, take no position, or oppose it. Opposition means a hearing.

Timeline and Costs

From filing to final record updates, the process generally takes four to six months. DA review alone can take 30 to 60 days. A hearing adds another one to three months depending on court schedules. After the judge signs the expungement order, the Clerk of Courts sends it to the Pennsylvania State Police and other agencies, which need additional time to process the changes.⁸

Expect costs from several sources:

PSP background check: $22, or $27 with notarization
Court filing fee: varies by county, generally $150 to $220
PSP expungement processing fee: $20, paid by certified check or money order to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Attorney fees, if you hire one: roughly $1,500 to $3,500 for a straightforward case

What Expungement Actually Does

A successful expungement removes the DUI from your public criminal record. Standard background checks run by employers, landlords, and most licensing agencies come back clean.

The limits matter, though. Law enforcement agencies and courts retain access. If you are charged with a new offense, the expunged DUI can still be used to decide whether you qualify for diversion again or to calculate prior-offense enhancements. The statute provides that records kept after ARD expungement “shall be used solely for the purposes of determining subsequent eligibility for such programs, identifying persons in criminal investigations or determining the grading of subsequent offenses.”⁵

Some professional licensing boards may also access expunged or sealed records when evaluating an application. If you hold or are pursuing a license in healthcare, education, law enforcement, or a similar field, check your board’s specific rules.

Private background check companies are a separate problem. They often pull court dockets before expungement and store the data independently, and Pennsylvania law does not impose a specific deadline for private companies to purge expunged records. You may need to contact them directly with a copy of the expungement order. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, a background check company that reports expunged records after being notified is violating its obligations, which gives you leverage if one drags its feet.

1
Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 320 – Procedure for Expungement Upon Successful Completion of ARD Program
2
Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 319 – Procedure for Obtaining Order for Dismissal Upon Successful Completion of the Program
3
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18 Section 9122.1 – Petition for Limited Access
4
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 Chapter 38 – Grading of DUI Offenses
5
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 18 Section 9122 – Expungement
6
Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 490 – Procedure for Obtaining Expungement in Summary Cases
7
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Request a Criminal History Background Check
8
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Apply for Criminal Record Expungement