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THE RHODE ISLAND DO-IT-YOURSELF
EXPUNGEMENT KIT
GET A RHODE ISLAND EXPUNGEMENT

If you are seeking a Rhode Island expungement please review the expungement overview below. Check back often or Sign Up for an email alert when the Rhode Island Expungement Kit is ready.

Requirement(s) to qualify for an expungement in the state:

  1. A person arrested for a criminal offense after there has been an acquittal, dismissal, no true bill, no information, or the person has been otherwise exonerated from the offense with which he or she is charged, as long as the person has no previous felony convictions. Also, a person detained by police, but not arrested or charged with an offense, or to persons against whom charges have been filed by the court, and the period of such filing has expired. Any person who has been charged with a complaint for a crime involving domestic violence where the complaint was filed upon a plea of not guilty, guilty or nolo contendere , must wait three years from the date of filing to seek expungement of the related records.
  2. For expungement of records of conviction, the person must be a first offender not convicted of a crime of violence.
  3. A person is eligible if in the five (5) years preceding the filing of the motion, if the conviction was for a misdemeanor, or in the ten (10) years preceding the filing of the motion if the conviction was for a felony, the petitioner has not been convicted nor arrested for any felony or misdemeanor, there are no criminal proceedings pending against the person, and he or she has exhibited good moral character.


    The court must also find that petitioner's rehabilitation has been attained to the court's satisfaction and the expungement of the records of his or her conviction is consistent with the public interest

Additional restrictions on who can qualify for an expungement

Records of exonerated persons under G.S. § 12-1-12 are to be expunged automatically as a matter of law. No petition is required to be made by the subject person of the records.

Does the law provide for sealing? What are the requirements?

Any person who is acquitted or otherwise exonerated of all counts in a criminal case, including, but not limited to, dismissal or filing of a no true bill or no information, may file a motion for the sealing of his or her court records in the case, provided, that no person who has been convicted of a felony shall have his or her court records sealed pursuant to this section. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, in all cases involving a filing subsequent to a plea of not guilty, guilty or nolo contendere to a charge of a crime involving domestic violence, the court having jurisdiction over the case shall retain the records of the case for a period of three (3) years from the date of filing. The records shall not be expunged, sealed, or otherwise destroyed for a period of three (3) years from the date of the filing.

What does it mean if you have a record expunged or sealed? (i.e., can you legally deny the conviction or arrest? Does anyone have access to the sealed/expunged records? Are they destroyed?)

"Expungement of records and records of conviction" means the sealing and retention of all records of a conviction and/or probation and the removal from active files of all records and information relating to conviction and/or probation.

 

Any fingerprint, photograph, physical measurements, or other record of identification, taken by or under the direction of the attorney general, the superintendent of state police, the member or members of the police department of any city or town or any other officer authorized by this chapter to take them, of a person under arrest, prior to the final conviction of the person for the offense then charged, shall be destroyed by all offices or departments having the custody or possession within sixty (60) days after there has been an acquittal, dismissal, no true bill, no information, or the person has been otherwise exonerated. The clerk of courts where the exoneration took place will seal all records of the person in the case including all records of the division of criminal identification established by § 12-1-4; provided, that the person shall not have been previously convicted of any felony offense.

Persons not exonerated of charges who are granted an order to expunge will have those records subject to the order sealed.

All records and records of conviction may be expunged under G.S. § 12-1.3-2. “Records" and "records of conviction and/or probation" include all court records, all records in the possession of any state or local police department, the bureau of criminal identification and the probation department, including, but not limited to, any fingerprints, photographs, physical measurements, or other records of identification. The terms "records" and "records of conviction, and/or probation" do not include the records and files of the department of attorney general which are not kept by the bureau of criminal identification in the ordinary course of the bureau's business.

Are you eligible for a Rhode Island Expungement? Most crimes can be expunged. For a description of the crimes that cannot be expunged, click here .

Be sure to check the site often as we are in the process of adding Expungement Kit for the State of Rhode Island soon.


   
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