A DUI conviction stays on your criminal record in Alaska permanently, because the state has no expungement law and nothing causes the conviction to drop off on its own. Your driving record is a separate matter with its own clocks: license revocation runs from 90 days to permanent, SR-22 insurance filings run from five years to life, and an ignition interlock stays on your vehicle for six months to five years depending on your history.
Your Criminal Record: Permanent
Alaska does not allow expungement of criminal records. Once a court enters a judgment on a DUI, that conviction is part of your criminal history for good. There is no waiting period after which it falls off, and no automatic process that removes it. Background checks run by employers, landlords, and professional licensing boards will show the conviction indefinitely.1Alaska Criminal Justice Commission. Chart #4 – Judicial Expungement, Sealing, and Set-Aside
The downstream effects outlast the sentence by decades. A visible DUI can cost a job offer, block a professional license, or complicate a rental application long after you’ve paid your fine and finished probation.
The One Narrow Alternative: A Set-Aside
Alaska offers one limited mechanism called a “set-aside.” If the judge originally suspended the imposition of your sentence and you successfully complete probation, the court may set the conviction aside and issue a certificate confirming it.2Justia Law. Alaska Code 12.55.085 – Suspending Imposition of Sentence
A set-aside is not an erasure. The conviction remains on your record with a notation that it was set aside, and it can still be used to increase penalties if you are charged with DUI again. For a first-offense misdemeanor DUI where the judge suspended sentencing, this may be the only form of relief available.1Alaska Criminal Justice Commission. Chart #4 – Judicial Expungement, Sealing, and Set-Aside
Your Driving Record
A DUI adds 10 demerit points to your Alaska DMV driving record, the highest single point value the agency assigns. Points themselves taper: you earn a two-point credit for every 12 months you go without a traffic violation, and completing a defensive driving course removes two more, usable once per year.3Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles. Points
The points fade, but the DUI entry on the driving record does not disappear on the same schedule. Insurers pull this record when setting premiums, and the conviction keeps rates elevated for years.
How Long Your License Is Revoked
A DUI conviction triggers a court-ordered license revocation. The minimums climb with each prior:
- First offense: 90 days
- One prior conviction: 1 year
- Two prior convictions: 3 years
- Three or more prior convictions: 5 years
These are floors; a judge can impose longer. A felony DUI carries permanent revocation, though Alaska law allows a petition for restoration after the required period has been served.4Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles. DUI (Driving Under the Influence) Court Revocation
A limited license for work or medical trips may be available 30 days into a first-offense revocation, or 90 days in with a prior. An ignition interlock is required on any vehicle you drive under that limited license.5FindLaw. Alaska Statutes Title 28 Motor Vehicles 28.15.201
How Long You’ll Carry SR-22 Insurance
Alaska requires an SR-22 filing from your insurer after a DUI, confirming you carry at least the state minimum liability coverage. The required filing periods are:
- First offense: 5 years
- Second offense: 10 years
- Third offense: 20 years
- Fourth or subsequent offense: lifetime
The clock starts when your license revocation ends, not on your conviction date. The real duration is therefore the revocation plus the filing period. A second offense means at least one year of revocation followed by 10 years of SR-22. If your insurer cancels or lets the SR-22 lapse at any point in that window, the DMV will suspend your license again.6Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles. SR-22 Insurance
How Long the Ignition Interlock Stays On
Once you regain any driving privileges, an ignition interlock device must stay on your vehicle for a minimum period that depends on your prior convictions:
- No priors: 6 months
- One prior: 12 months
- Two priors (misdemeanor): 18 months
- Three priors: 24 months
- Four priors: 30 months
- Felony DUI: 60 months (5 years)
The period runs from the date you regain your license or limited driving privileges. Tampering with or circumventing the device is a separate class A misdemeanor.7Justia Law. Alaska Code 28.35.030 – Operating a Vehicle, Aircraft, or Watercraft While Under the Influence
How Long Priors Count Against You
For misdemeanor DUI sentencing, Alaska law sets no time limit on prior convictions. A DUI from 20 years ago still counts as a prior today for purposes of minimum jail time, fines, and the interlock period.7Justia Law. Alaska Code 28.35.030 – Operating a Vehicle, Aircraft, or Watercraft While Under the Influence
The one defined lookback window applies to felony DUI. A current DUI becomes a class C felony if you have two or more prior convictions within the 10 years before the current offense. A felony conviction carries a minimum $10,000 fine, at least 120 days in jail, and permanent license revocation.7Justia Law. Alaska Code 28.35.030 – Operating a Vehicle, Aircraft, or Watercraft While Under the Influence
Out-of-state DUI convictions count as priors in Alaska. A conviction in Oregon five years ago will be tallied the same as an in-state prior if you’re arrested here.8Alaska Court System. About D.U.I.
If You Hold a Commercial Driver’s License
A CDL triggers a separate set of federal disqualification rules that run alongside the state penalties. The BAC threshold for commercial drivers is 0.04 percent, half the standard limit. Federal minimums are at least one year of disqualification for a first offense (three years if hauling hazardous materials) and lifetime disqualification for a second. Federal rules allow states to permit reinstatement after 10 years in limited circumstances, but most carriers will not hire a driver carrying a lifetime disqualification.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 31310 – Disqualifications
Travel to Canada
Canada treats impaired driving as a serious criminal offense and can refuse entry to anyone with a DUI, regardless of how Alaska classifies it. You may become eligible for “deemed rehabilitation” once at least 10 years have passed since you completed every part of your sentence, including probation, fines, and license conditions. Sooner than that, you can apply for a Temporary Resident Permit (issued for up to three years at a time) or for individual criminal rehabilitation once at least five years have passed since you finished your sentence.10Government of Canada. Overcome Criminal Convictions
Criminal rehabilitation applications generally take a year or more and cannot be filed at the border, so plan well ahead if you need to cross.