How to Get a DUI Expunged in Kentucky: Eligibility, Petition, and Hearing

To get a DUI expunged in Kentucky, you need a first-offense conviction, a ten-year gap since you finished every part of your sentence, a clean record for the five years before filing, a Certification of Eligibility from the state, and a petition filed in the circuit court where you were convicted. The authority is KRS 431.078, and the process is paperwork-heavy but straightforward once the waiting period is behind you.¹

Who Qualifies and When You Can File

Only a first DUI is eligible. If you have two or more DUI convictions, none of them can be expunged under this process.

Two waiting periods have to run before a court can grant your petition, and they overlap. KRS 431.078 requires at least five years after you complete your sentence or finish probation, whichever is later. “Complete” is literal: jail served, probation closed, fines paid, court costs settled. Nothing starts the clock until every piece is done.¹

The second clock is the one most people miss. Under KRS 189A.010, a prior DUI counts toward escalating penalties for ten years. A court cannot expunge the conviction while that enhancement window is still open.² In practice, that means ten years from the day you finished your sentence before filing makes any sense.¹

Two more conditions have to be true on the day you file:

No felony or misdemeanor conviction in the five years immediately before filing.
No felony or misdemeanor charge pending or under investigation.

Both get checked during eligibility certification and again by the judge.¹

Get Your Eligibility Certification First

Before you file anything in court, you need a Certification of Eligibility for Expungement. It’s a formal background check by the Kentucky State Police and the Administrative Office of the Courts confirming you meet the statutory requirements.³ Request it through the AOC. The fee is roughly $40 and is non-refundable.⁴

Watch the shelf life. The certification is valid for only 30 days. If your petition is not filed with the circuit court inside that window, the certification expires and you’ll pay for a new one. Don’t order the certification until the rest of your paperwork is ready to go.

Fill Out and File the Petition

The petition is form AOC-496.2, “Petition for Expungement for Misdemeanor, Violation, or Traffic Infraction Conviction,” available on the Kentucky Court of Justice website.⁵ It asks for the case number, the county and court of conviction, the conviction date, your date of birth, and your Social Security number.

Your signature must be notarized. A notary public can do it, or you can sign in front of the circuit court clerk when you file. Bring a valid photo ID either way.

Attach the eligibility certification. It also helps to bring proof your sentence is finished: receipts for fines paid, a court order ending probation, anything the judge might want to see.

File the package with the Circuit Court Clerk in the county where you were convicted. The filing fee is $100 per case, set by statute, with the first $50 going to a non-refundable trust account for deputy clerks.¹ Keep a copy of everything you turn in.

What Happens at the Hearing

Once the petition is filed, the court sets a hearing date no sooner than 30 days out and notifies the county attorney who originally prosecuted the case, along with any identified victim.¹ The prosecutor uses that window to decide whether to object. The common grounds are a disqualifying conviction that was missed, or an enhancement period that has not actually expired.

The statute says the court “shall order” expungement when the ten-year enhancement window has closed and the other requirements are met. “Shall” is mandatory. If your paperwork is in order, the judge is required to grant the petition.¹

If nobody objects and the file is clean, some judges rule without requiring you to appear. If there’s an objection or the judge wants to ask questions, plan to attend and be ready to speak to your eligibility.

After the Order Is Signed

Once the judge signs the expungement order, the court and every other agency holding records of the conviction are required to delete them. The DUI will not appear on official Kentucky background checks, and any agency asked about it must respond that no record exists. You no longer have to disclose the conviction on applications for employment, credit, or housing. You can legally answer “no” when asked whether you’ve been convicted of that offense.

One boundary to understand. Expungement reaches your criminal court record. Your driving record is maintained separately by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Whether the DUI notation disappears from your driving history depends on how the Cabinet processes the order, and an insurer or employer pulling a driving record rather than a criminal background check may still see it. If that matters to you, ask a Kentucky DUI attorney about the administrative side before you assume the record is fully gone.

If the Petition Is Denied

A denial is not final. Kentucky law lets you file a new petition, with no statutory waiting period before trying again. If the denial came from something fixable — an incomplete form, a fine still owed, a misread of your criminal history — correct the problem and refile. You will pay for a fresh eligibility certification and a new filing fee each time.

A Note on Travel to Canada

Canadian immigration law treats impaired driving as a serious criminal offense, and a single misdemeanor DUI from the United States can make you inadmissible at the border. Canadian officers have access to U.S. criminal databases at airports and land crossings.⁶

A Kentucky expungement is not an automatic fix for Canadian entry. Canada recognizes foreign record suspensions and pardons in some situations, but you’ll need to confirm with a Canadian visa office whether your expungement qualifies. The usual routes are Criminal Rehabilitation, available five or more years after you finish your entire sentence, or a Temporary Resident Permit for short-term entry. If you cross the border regularly, handle this alongside the Kentucky petition rather than after.⁶

1
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 431.078 – Expungement of Misdemeanor, Violation, and Traffic Infraction Convictions
2
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 189A.010 – Operating Motor Vehicle With Alcohol Concentration of or Above 0.08
3
Justia Law. Kentucky Revised Statutes 431.079 – Petition or Application Seeking Expungement to Include Certification of Eligibility
4
Kentucky State Police. Expungements
5
Kentucky Court of Justice. Petition for Expungement for Misdemeanor, Violation, or Traffic Infraction Conviction
6
Government of Canada. Overcome Criminal Convictions