How Long Does a DUI Stay on Your Record in Indiana?

A DUI in Indiana — charged under state law as Operating While Intoxicated, or OWI — stays on your record in Indiana permanently. There is no built-in expiration, no point at which the conviction quietly drops off. The only way to remove it from public view is to petition a court to seal it through Indiana’s expungement statute, and that becomes possible five years after a misdemeanor conviction or eight years after a Level 6 felony conviction.

The Conviction Sits on Two Separate Records

An OWI lands in two places, and both are permanent by default.

Your criminal record is maintained by law enforcement agencies, including the Indiana State Police. This is what surfaces when an employer, landlord, or licensing board runs a background check. Because an OWI is a criminal offense rather than a routine traffic ticket, it carries real weight in hiring, housing, and professional licensing decisions.

Your driving record is maintained separately by the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. It tracks traffic violations, suspensions, and related entries, and it is what insurance companies pull when setting your rate and what officers see during a traffic stop. Neither record has a mechanism for the OWI to disappear on its own.

Why the Permanence Matters

Even if no one is actively looking at your record, its contents affect you in two concrete ways.

First, Indiana uses a seven-year lookback period for repeat offenses. If you are arrested for a second OWI within seven years of a prior conviction, the new charge is automatically elevated from a misdemeanor to a Level 6 felony, which carries up to two and a half years in prison and fines up to $10,000.¹ After the seven years pass, the enhancement no longer triggers, but the original conviction is still visible on both records.

Second, insurance rates jump substantially after an OWI conviction — roughly 88% on average compared with what drivers with clean records pay for the same coverage — and the increase persists for several years. Insurers can see the conviction on the BMV driving record for as long as it stays there. Even after expungement seals the criminal record, the BMV entry can continue influencing premiums.

When You Can Petition to Expunge an OWI

Indiana’s expungement law lets you ask a court to seal the conviction from public view. The conviction is not destroyed; it becomes confidential and invisible to most background checks run by employers, landlords, and the general public. Once sealed, you can legally say you have not been convicted of the offense in most situations.

The waiting period depends on how your OWI was classified at conviction:

Misdemeanor OWI, or a Level 6 felony that was later reduced to a misdemeanor: at least five years from the date of conviction, with no other convictions during that five-year period.²
Level 6 felony OWI that stayed a felony: at least eight years from the date of conviction, with no new felony or misdemeanor convictions during that period.³

In either case, all fines, fees, court costs, and restitution must be paid, and no charges can be pending.² A prosecutor can consent in writing to a shorter waiting period, but that is uncommon and entirely at the prosecutor’s discretion.

One exclusion to watch: expungement is unavailable for certain serious offenses, including sex crimes and some violent offenses.³ A standard OWI will not run into those bars, but an OWI that caused serious bodily injury might.

How the Filing Works

You file the petition in the circuit or superior court in the county where you were convicted.² The petition needs your case number, conviction date, the court that handled the case, and the arresting agency, along with a complete list of every arrest, charge, and conviction on your record from any jurisdiction. Order your full criminal history from the Indiana State Police before filling out the forms so nothing is missed.⁴

After filing, you serve a copy of the petition on the prosecuting attorney who handled the original case.⁵ The court cannot schedule a hearing until at least 60 days after that service, giving the prosecutor time to review eligibility and object if warranted.⁶ If no objection is filed and you meet the statutory requirements, the court must grant the expungement. If the prosecutor objects, a hearing follows. Filing fees vary by county but run around $157 for a conviction expungement.

You Only Get One Petition in Your Lifetime

This is the detail that catches people out. Indiana limits every person to one expungement petition, period.⁶ If you have convictions in multiple counties, you can file in each county, but every petition must go in within the same 365-day window to count as a single lifetime petition.⁷

There are narrow exceptions. If the court denies your petition, you can refile for any conviction included in it. If you accidentally left a conviction off and can show excusable neglect, the court may let you amend.⁷ The practical rule: if you have other convictions on your record alongside the OWI, bundle them all into the single petition. Expunging the OWI now and planning to come back later for something else is not an option.

What Expungement Does Not Reach

Expungement seals the record from most public access, but it does not erase the conviction from every system. The Indiana Judicial Branch describes the process as sealing and restricting access rather than destruction.⁷ Several categories still see through it:

Federal background checks. FBI checks and federal agency screenings can sometimes access expunged state records, and a federal security clearance review can bring the conviction up during adjudication.
Law enforcement and courts. Both retain the ability to view sealed records, so an expunged OWI still appears during any future interaction with the criminal justice system.
Professional licensing boards. Many Indiana boards in healthcare, education, law, and other regulated fields require disclosure of all convictions, including expunged ones, on licensing applications. Failing to disclose when required can result in denial or discipline.
Immigration proceedings. Federal immigration authorities are not bound by state expungement orders.

Two specific populations should know that expungement will not fix their situation. A commercial driver’s license holder faces a minimum one-year CDL disqualification for a first OWI in a commercial vehicle and a lifetime CDL disqualification for a second conviction, both imposed under federal law regardless of what Indiana does with the state record.⁸⁹ And anyone who travels to Canada should know that Canadian immigration law treats impaired driving as serious criminality and can bar entry on the basis of a single OWI, no matter how old; sealing the Indiana record does not change the admissibility analysis at the border.

For standard private-sector job applications and rental screenings, though, expungement does what people hope it will. The conviction will not show up on commercial background checks, and in most situations you can lawfully answer that you have not been convicted.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-30-5-3 – Penalties; Prior Offenses; Passenger Less Than 18 Years of Age
2
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-38-9-2 – Expunging Misdemeanor Convictions
3
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-38-9-3 – Expunging Minor Class D and Level 6 Felony Convictions
4
Indiana State Police. Expunge Criminal History
5
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-38-9-8 – Petition to Expunge Conviction Records
6
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-38-9-9 – Duties of Court in Ruling on Petition
7
Indiana Judicial Branch. Detailed Information on Criminal Case Expungement
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 31310 – Disqualifications
9
eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 – Disqualification of Drivers