How to Get a DUI Expunged in New York: Sealing Paths and CPL 160.59

New York does not expunge DUI convictions. The state will not destroy the record, but it will seal it, which hides the conviction from most background checks while leaving it visible to law enforcement and a few other agencies. Since November 16, 2024, the Clean Slate Act has sealed most misdemeanor DWI convictions automatically three years after sentencing or release, and most felony DWI convictions after eight years, with no paperwork required. If you don’t qualify for automatic sealing, you can petition a judge to seal the record after ten crime-free years.

Sealing Is Not Expungement

Expungement would erase the conviction. New York doesn’t do that for any conviction. Sealing restricts who can see the record instead. Once a DWI is sealed, it won’t appear on standard employer or landlord background checks, and you generally don’t have to disclose it on most applications. The record itself still exists, and law enforcement agencies, federal immigration authorities, and certain other qualified agencies keep access.¹

Automatic Sealing Under the Clean Slate Act

The Clean Slate Act, codified at CPL 160.57, took effect November 16, 2024. For DWI, the waiting period depends on how the offense was classified:

Misdemeanor DWI: sealed three years after sentencing or release from incarceration, whichever is later.
Felony DWI: sealed eight years after sentencing or release from incarceration, whichever is later.
DWAI under VTL 1192(1): sealed after three years, under a specific provision addressing that traffic infraction.

The Office of Court Administration handles sealing, so you file nothing. Your conviction will not be sealed, however, if you have a criminal charge pending, you are on probation or parole, or you have been convicted of a felony in another state in the preceding eight years. If one of those conditions blocks sealing now, the Office of Court Administration rechecks eligibility at least quarterly, and the conviction gets sealed once the block clears and the waiting period has run.²

Some categories are permanently excluded from automatic sealing, including sex offenses, Class A felonies other than drug offenses, and offenses requiring sex offender registration. Standard DWI and aggravated DWI are not on the exclusion list, so most alcohol-related driving convictions qualify once you meet the waiting period and other conditions.²

Petitioning the Court Under CPL 160.59

Before the Clean Slate Act, a petition under CPL 160.59 was the only sealing route. That path still exists and is worth considering if ten years have passed and your conviction has not been sealed administratively, or if you want a definitive court order rather than relying on the automatic process.

To qualify, you can have no more than two criminal convictions total, and no more than one of them can be a felony. At least ten years must have passed since sentencing or release, whichever came later, and you cannot have picked up a new conviction during that period. DWI and aggravated DWI are eligible offenses. Violent felonies, sex offenses, and Class A felonies are the main disqualifiers, and none of those categories include alcohol-related driving crimes.³¹

The advantage of petitioning is that you get to present rehabilitation evidence directly to a judge and receive a ruling on the record. The trade-off is that the judge has discretion to deny, and the District Attorney can object.

How to File the Petition

Start by pulling a Certificate of Disposition for each conviction you want sealed. The clerk of the court where you were convicted issues it. Have your full name, date of birth, NYSID number, and the dates of arrest and sentencing ready.⁴

The application itself is a Notice of Motion and a supporting Affidavit, provided by the court system as a combined form. The Notice tells the court and the DA what you are asking for. The Affidavit is your sworn statement setting out your rehabilitation, the concrete harm the unsealed record has caused you, and why sealing serves both your interests and the public’s. Specifics carry the weight here. Completing a 26-week alcohol treatment program and maintaining sobriety for eight years reads very differently from a general statement about having turned a corner.

File the paperwork with the clerk of the court where you were convicted. The clerk assigns the motion to a judge, ideally the one who handled your original case. Serve copies of the Notice of Motion and Affidavit on the DA’s office in that county. The DA can consent, object, or take no position. If the DA objects, expect a hearing before the judge rules.³

What the Judge Weighs

A petition is not automatic. The statute directs the judge to consider several factors:

How much time has passed since your last conviction, with more crime-free time weighing in your favor.
The seriousness of the offense. A first-time DWI with no accident looks different from an aggravated DWI involving a crash or a child passenger.
The character of any other conviction being sealed.
Rehabilitation, including treatment, steady employment, education, and community involvement.
Any statement submitted by a victim of the offense, which the judge must consider.
The impact the unsealed record has had on your ability to find work, housing, or otherwise move on.
Whether sealing would undermine public confidence in the justice system.³

DWAI Follows a Different Track

Driving While Ability Impaired under VTL 1192(1) is not the same as DWI. A DWI is a criminal offense triggered by a blood alcohol content of .08% or higher. A first-time DWAI is a traffic infraction, not a crime.⁵ Because DWAI is not a criminal conviction, it does not qualify for the CPL 160.59 petition, which covers only misdemeanors and felonies. CPL 160.55, which handles non-criminal violations and traffic infractions generally, specifically carves DWAI out.⁶

The Clean Slate Act filled that gap. CPL 160.57 now provides that VTL 1192(1) convictions are sealed after three years.² If your DWAI predates the Act and three years have already passed, you can also move the court under CPL 160.55(3) by filing a motion with at least 20 days’ notice to the DA. The court must grant the request unless the DA shows that the interests of justice require keeping the record open.⁶

Misdemeanor or Felony Changes the Math

How your DWI was classified drives the waiting period and shapes your petition options. A first-offense DWI or aggravated DWI in New York is typically an unclassified misdemeanor. A second DWI within ten years is charged as a class E felony, and a third within ten years is a class D felony. Aggravated DWI with a child passenger under 16 in the vehicle is a separate charge under VTL 1192(2-a)(b) that can be charged as a felony.⁵

Under the Clean Slate Act, a misdemeanor DWI can seal after three years, a felony after eight. Under the CPL 160.59 petition, the two-conviction cap allows only one felony, so someone with two felony DWIs cannot seal either through a petition.³

Who Can Still See a Sealed DWI

Sealing is not invisibility, and this matters for planning. Federal, state, and local law enforcement retain access to sealed records. If you are not a U.S. citizen, immigration authorities can still see the conviction, and failing to disclose a DWI on an immigration form can create problems worse than the original offense.¹ Employers where you would carry a firearm can also access sealed records.⁷ For most state professional licenses, sealed convictions generally do not have to be disclosed. The New York Division of Licensing Services, for example, does not require applicants to self-affirm sealed convictions.⁸

One limitation catches people off guard. Sealing a criminal record does not affect your DMV driving record. The DWI or DWAI still appears on your driving abstract, which insurance companies and certain employers routinely check. Criminal courts and the DMV maintain separate systems, and the sealing statutes address only the criminal side.

Which Path Fits Your Situation

For most people convicted of DWI in New York, the Clean Slate Act is now the simpler route. If three years have passed since a misdemeanor sentence or release and you have no pending charges or active supervision, your record may already be sealed or queued for sealing. You can confirm by requesting your criminal history from the Division of Criminal Justice Services.

A CPL 160.59 petition still fits narrower situations: ten years have passed without automatic sealing, you want a court order for certainty, or your record is complicated enough that presenting rehabilitation evidence to a judge is worth the effort. Either way, the DMV abstract keeps the conviction, and federal immigration authorities can see it regardless of sealing. If immigration consequences are in play, talk to an immigration attorney before treating sealing as a full solution.

1
NYCourts.gov. Sealing Records: After 10 Years (CPL 160.59)
2
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 160.57 – Automatic Sealing of Convictions
3
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 160.59 – Sealing of Certain Convictions
4
New York State Unified Court System. Forms and Instructions – Application to Seal a Criminal Conviction After 10 Years – CPL 160.59
5
New York State Senate. New York Vehicle and Traffic Law 1192 – Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs
6
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 160.55 – Order Upon Termination of Criminal Action in Favor of the Accused
7
NY CourtHelp. Sealed Criminal Records
8
New York Department of State. Persons with Criminal Convictions