EXPUNGEMENT INFORMATION

     Rhode Island law sets out a procedure for a first offender to file a motion to expunge a record of conviction for a felony or a misdemeanor.  Upon request, the Department of Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Identification Unit (BCI) provides the offender a copy of the conviction record at a cost.  The Judicial Records Center maintains the criminal complaint which is available for copying.  The foregoing information is needed to complete a motion to expunge.  By law, the motion is filed in the court in which the conviction took place.  A ten-day period is necessary for the offender to give the Attorney General’s Office and the arresting police department notice that the motion to expunge is being filed.  The court clerk’s office will assign a date at least ten days from the filing date.

     If the motion is granted, certified copies of the court order should be provided to the arresting police department, the Department of Attorney General, and to the probation department (if applicable), in order to give notification that the record has been ordered expunged.  Each agency should destroy its record.

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      Because the summary set forth above is for informational purposes only, it is recommended that you contact an attorney to discuss the procedures for filing such a motion.  This summary information does not guarantee that the record will be expunged after a motion has been filed.