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Health & Fitness

Getting a DUI Off Your Record Isn't That Easy

Dupage County DUI Attorney Donald Ramsell explains the laws about getting a DUI off someone's record. You just might be surprised.

Clients accused of drunk driving often ask their lawyers "Will this DUI go on my record?" Unfortunately, the answer isn't simply a "yes" or  a "no." The real answer is "it depends on the record and the outcome of the case."

A person who pleads guilty to DUI or reckless driving cannot get his or her records expunged, even if they are given a lenient sentence such as court supervision. Ever. And the places where such records exist continues to expand. Only if one is found not guilty or has had the case dismissed outright is he or she eligible for expungement of SOME of these records. While a sentence of court supervision will keep a DUI criminal charge away from the driving record used by insurance companies, it won't keep the record out of the hands of private background check companies. Some court outcomes allow for sealing of records, but many judges are reluctant to do so.

In Illinois and across the country, there are multiple record databases involved in recording the fact that someone was arrested for a DUI (and for other things as well). These include driving records, fingerprint records, local police station records, and courthouse records. There are now private record-keeping companies that purchase records and then store them in their own databases. So the use of the phrase "off my record" is misleading since it implies that there is only one database. Once an arrest has occurred, all of these places have a 'record' created. It's just like buying shoes with a debit card. Even if you return them instantly, the record of the sale has spread through the credit card company, your bank, the store, the warehouse and elsewhere. Undoing it is difficult.

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Even if one wins the DUI case, the lawyer has to file special documents to ask that certain records be destroyed or sealed. And there will always be an internal record kept by the Secretary of State that will show if there was a possible suspension.

So (unless the law is changed) merely being arrested for DUI will cause some records to be kept forever.  A good lawyer can still help to lessen the number of records accessible by the public, but only to a limited degree. This fact is simply one more reason to have a competent lawyer review the case before simply pleading guilty under the mistaken impression that it will go "off your record."

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In sum, the best way to try to keep a DUI off a person's record (other than obtaining a favorable outcome with a good lawyer) is to simply not drink too much alcohol and then drive.

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