In Utah, a DUI stays on your criminal record permanently unless you successfully petition to have it expunged, and it stays on your driving record for 10 years. So the honest answer to how long a DUI stays on your record in Utah is: forever on one record, a decade on the other, and the earliest you can even apply to clear the criminal side is 10 years after you finish your entire sentence.
Those two timelines get confused constantly, and a third number, the 10-year lookback used for sentencing, muddies things further. They are three separate rules doing three separate jobs.
Two Records, Two Different Clocks
A DUI touches two state records, and each has its own retention rule.
Your criminal record is maintained by the Bureau of Criminal Identification. A DUI conviction sits there indefinitely. It does not fall off on its own, and Utah’s Clean Slate law, which automatically clears certain older or minor convictions, specifically excludes DUI.1Utah Department of Public Safety. Auto Expungement/Clean Slate Expungement Even a spotless record otherwise will not trigger an automatic clearing of the DUI. The only route off the criminal record is a formal expungement petition.
Your driving record is maintained by the Driver License Division. Most driving infractions drop off after three years, but DUI and drug-related charges stay visible for 10 years.2Utah Driver License Division. Driving Record (MVR) That 10-year window is what an insurer or an employer running a motor vehicle report will typically see.
Expunging the criminal record does not shorten the driving record timeline. The Driver License Division continues to show DUI-related information for the full 10 years from the offense regardless of whether BCI has sealed the conviction.2Utah Driver License Division. Driving Record (MVR)
The 10-Year Lookback Is a Separate Thing
Utah also applies a 10-year lookback for sentencing. Prosecutors review your record for any prior DUI convictions within the past decade, and each prior inside that window pushes your current charge into a harsher penalty tier. A second DUI within 10 years remains a misdemeanor but with substantially higher mandatory jail time and fines. A third DUI with two prior convictions each falling within 10 years of the current offense jumps to a third-degree felony.3Utah Legislature. Utah Code 41-6a-503 – Penalties for Driving Under the Influence
This lookback governs sentencing only. It does not control how long the conviction stays on either record. A DUI that is more than 10 years old no longer enhances a new sentence, but it still sits on your criminal record, and it stays on your driving record until the full decade from the offense date has passed.
When You Can Apply for Expungement
Expungement is the only way to remove a DUI from your Utah criminal record, and the eligibility rules are strict.
The central requirement is a 10-year waiting period. The clock starts from the date of your conviction or from the day you were released from incarceration, parole, or probation, whichever happened last.4Utah Legislature. Utah Code 77-40a-303 – Expungement Eligibility If your sentence included three years of probation, the 10 years do not begin running until that probation ended. So the practical minimum between conviction and eligibility is almost always more than 10 years.
You also have to meet several other conditions:
- Your sentence must be fully completed, including all fines, fees, restitution, community service, and treatment requirements.
- You must have a clean record during the waiting period, with no new arrests or convictions beyond minor traffic infractions across the full 10 years.
- You cannot have any pending criminal charges when you apply.
Felony DUI convictions are not directly eligible. BCI lists felony DUI as a basis for denying a Certificate of Eligibility.5Utah Department of Public Safety. Criminal Identification (BCI) – Expungements To pursue expungement of a felony DUI, you first have to petition the court under a 402 motion to reduce the conviction to a misdemeanor. The court can only grant a reduction after you have successfully completed probation or parole, paid all restitution, and the court finds the reduction serves the interest of justice.6Utah Legislature. Utah Code 76-3-402 – Conviction Reduction Only after the reduction can the expungement process begin.
What the Expungement Process Looks Like
The process starts at the Bureau of Criminal Identification. You apply for a Certificate of Eligibility, and BCI runs a thorough background check covering your entire criminal history across all states, including any previous expungements.5Utah Department of Public Safety. Criminal Identification (BCI) – Expungements Check the BCI directly for current fees and required documentation.
Once you have the Certificate of Eligibility, you file a Petition for Expungement with the court that handled your original DUI case. The certificate must be filed within 180 days of its issue date. The filing fee is $135 in a Justice Court or $150 in a District Court.7State of Utah Judiciary. Filing/Record Fees The court serves a copy on the prosecuting attorney’s office, which has a window to review the petition and raise objections.
If no objection is filed and the court is satisfied you meet every requirement, the judge signs an Order of Expungement. That order seals your criminal record, and the conviction will no longer appear on most background checks.
What Expungement Does Not Reach
Sealing the criminal record is powerful, but it has edges a reader needs to know about before counting on it.
Your driving record is not covered. The Driver License Division continues to show DUI-related information for 10 years from the offense regardless of expungement.2Utah Driver License Division. Driving Record (MVR) An insurer pulling an MVR within that decade will still see the DUI.
A commercial driver’s license is separately disqualified under federal rules. A first DUI, in any vehicle, triggers a one-year CDL disqualification; three years if hazardous materials were involved. A second DUI results in a lifetime CDL disqualification.8eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 – Disqualification of Drivers Expunging the Utah conviction does not undo the federal disqualification.
Federal agencies and some foreign governments operate outside Utah’s seal. Security clearance applications typically require you to disclose expunged convictions. Military enlistment paperwork likewise requires disclosure. Canada classifies impaired driving as a serious crime, and a single DUI can make you inadmissible; the Canadian border system does not treat a Utah expungement as erasing the underlying offense.
Put together, the timeline for most Utah drivers works out like this. The DUI is on your driving record for 10 years from the offense, no matter what you do. It is on your criminal record forever unless you petition for expungement, and you cannot petition until at least 10 years after the last day of your sentence, parole, or probation. If the conviction is a felony, add the time it takes to get it reduced to a misdemeanor before the expungement clock even becomes relevant. The sentencing lookback is its own 10-year rule and controls only how a future DUI charge would be punished, not how long the current one sticks around.