A DWI conviction in Missouri — the state’s term for what most people call a DUI — stays on your criminal record permanently, and the notation on your driving record stays indefinitely as well. The only way to clear the criminal conviction is expungement, and you cannot even petition for that until at least ten years have passed. Your driving record and your criminal record are two separate files kept by two different agencies, and each has its own rules, so how long a Missouri DUI stays on your record depends on which record you mean.
The Criminal Conviction Is Permanent
A first-offense DWI in Missouri is a Class B misdemeanor.1Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 577.010 – Driving While Intoxicated Once you plead or are found guilty, the conviction enters the criminal records maintained by the courts and law enforcement, and it does not fall off after a set number of years. It appears on standard background checks run through the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s criminal records division, which is what employers, landlords, and licensing boards typically use.
Nothing you do short of expungement changes that. Completing probation, paying fines, finishing a treatment program, or going decades without another offense does not remove the conviction from the criminal record. The record simply sits there until a court orders it sealed.
How Long a DWI Stays on Your Driving Record
The Missouri Department of Revenue keeps a separate administrative driving record for every licensed driver.2Missouri Department of Revenue. Driver Records A first DWI conviction adds eight points to that record, and a second or subsequent intoxication-related conviction adds twelve.3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 302.302 – Point System Established
Eight points within eighteen months triggers a license suspension: 30 days for a first suspension, 60 for a second, 90 for a third or later. Twelve points within twelve months triggers a one-year revocation.4Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 302.304 – Suspension or Revocation of License Because a single first-offense DWI adds enough points on its own to hit that threshold, the suspension can follow immediately.
After reinstatement, your points reset to four and can be worked back down to zero over time if you avoid new violations.4Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 302.304 – Suspension or Revocation of License Here is the part people miss: the points can go away, but the DWI itself does not. Certain intoxication-related convictions remain listed on your Missouri driving record permanently, even after your point balance returns to zero.5Missouri Department of Revenue. Tickets and Points FAQs
Why the Permanence Matters for Any Future Charge
Because a Missouri DWI stays on the record indefinitely, it keeps counting against you if you are ever charged again. Missouri sorts repeat offenders into escalating categories, and most of them look back over your entire life rather than a set window.
- Prior offender: one previous intoxication-related conviction within the last five years.
- Persistent offender: two or more previous intoxication-related convictions, with no time limit.
- Aggravated offender: three or more previous convictions, no time limit.
- Chronic offender: four or more previous convictions, no time limit.
Only the “prior offender” category uses a five-year lookback. Once a new charge would push you into “persistent offender” or higher, Missouri counts every intoxication-related conviction you have ever had.6Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 577.023 – Prior Offender, Persistent Offender, Aggravated Offender, Chronic Offender Defined A DWI from twenty years ago can still turn a new offense into a felony.
When You Can Expunge a Missouri DWI
Expungement is the only mechanism that seals a DWI conviction from your criminal record and from public background checks in Missouri. The eligibility rules are narrow. To qualify under the statute, all of the following must be true:
- First offense only: the conviction is your first intoxication-related traffic or boating offense.
- Not a felony: felony DWI convictions cannot be expunged under this section.
- No CDL: you did not hold, and were not required to hold, a commercial driver’s license at the time of the offense.
- Ten-year wait: at least ten years have passed since your guilty plea or conviction.
- Clean since: no later intoxication-related traffic or boating convictions, and no other alcohol-related enforcement contacts in the intervening years.
- Once in a lifetime: the statute allows only one DWI expungement per person.
The “alcohol-related enforcement contacts” language reaches beyond convictions. A chemical test refusal or a BAC-based administrative suspension in the years since the original conviction can be enough to disqualify you, even if it never produced a separate criminal case.
How the Expungement Petition Works
You file the petition in the circuit court where the original guilty plea or conviction was entered. The petition has to lay out the details of the conviction and show that you meet every eligibility condition in the statute.7Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.130 – Alcohol-Related Driving Offenses, Expunged From Records Filing fees vary by county and typically run around $100 to $150.
The court sets a hearing. The prosecuting attorney and relevant agencies get notice and can object. If the judge finds you have met every requirement — no later intoxication-related convictions, no alcohol-related enforcement contacts, and no pending intoxication-related charges — the court orders the records of your arrest, plea, trial, and conviction sealed from public view.
You are not legally required to hire an attorney, but the process involves formal filings and a contested hearing, and a defective petition can be denied. Attorney fees for a Missouri DWI expungement generally range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.
What Expungement Actually Clears
A granted expungement seals the DWI from standard background checks. Employers, landlords, and licensing boards running ordinary searches will not see it. For most day-to-day purposes, the conviction is gone.
Expungement under the DWI statute is separate from Missouri’s general expungement law, and using it does not consume one of the lifetime slots available for expunging other misdemeanors or felonies under the general statute.
Two limits are worth being clear about. If you hold or were required to hold a CDL, if your DWI is a felony, or if you have any later intoxication-related conviction, you cannot use this expungement at all, and the conviction stays on your record for life. And even after a Missouri expungement, foreign governments do not always treat the record as gone. Canada, for example, treats impaired driving as a serious criminal offense for admissibility purposes, and Canadian border officers have been known to flag records even after they have been expunged in the traveler’s home country.
Insurance and the SR-22
Even before you get anywhere near the ten-year expungement mark, the practical consequences of a DWI on your record run for years. Missouri generally requires SR-22 proof of financial responsibility for two years after license reinstatement following a DWI. The SR-22 is a form your insurer files with the Department of Revenue certifying that you carry the required coverage; if the policy lapses, the insurer notifies the state and your license can be suspended again. Premiums typically rise sharply during and after that period, and some insurers factor a DWI into rates for five years or longer.
The short version: on your driving record, a Missouri DWI stays at least ten years and often forever. On your criminal record, it stays forever unless you qualify for expungement after ten clean years and successfully petition the circuit court to seal it.