Michigan Traffic Offense Expungement: What Can and Cannot Be Sealed

Michigan excludes traffic offenses that cause any injury or death and certain offenses committed by a person with a commercial-motor-vehicle endorsement. First-offense OWI is eligible for petition-based set-aside under specific conditions.

The General Rule: Traffic Offenses Are Excluded

Any traffic offense that causes injury or death is excluded from set-aside under MCL 780.621c. No petition or automatic set-aside is available for that conviction. This includes:

• Operating while intoxicated causing death (MCL 257.625(4))
• Operating while intoxicated causing serious impairment (MCL 257.625(5))
• Reckless driving causing death or serious injury
• Moving violations causing death when the driver was at fault

These exclusions apply regardless of how much time has passed.

Traffic Offenses Under a CDL

Under MCL 780.621c, a traffic conviction is excluded if it was committed by a person with a commercial-motor-vehicle endorsement while operating that vehicle or was otherwise a commercial-motor-vehicle violation. This exclusion applies to both petition and automatic set-asides.

First-Offense OWI: The Exception

First-offense operating while intoxicated (OWI) under MCL 257.625 is eligible for petition-based set-aside. Key restrictions:

• Only one lifetime OWI conviction can be set aside
• Automatic sealing does not apply — a petition is required
• The waiting period is five years from the latest of sentencing, probation or parole discharge, or release from incarceration
• The set-aside order cannot require removal of the OWI from your Secretary of State driving record under MCL 780.621c(5)

A second or subsequent OWI conviction is not eligible for the first-violation OWI petition pathway.

Civil Infractions vs. Criminal Traffic Offenses

Minor traffic violations processed as civil infractions (speeding tickets, running a red light, expired registration) are not criminal convictions and do not appear on your criminal history record. They are handled through the Secretary of State driving-record system; the set-aside process applies to convictions, not civil infractions.

The confusion arises because some traffic events can be charged as either civil infractions or criminal offenses depending on severity. Reckless driving, for example, is a criminal misdemeanor. A standard speeding ticket is a civil infraction. The distinction determines which record system the offense appears in and whether expungement is even relevant.

What Stays on Your Driving Record

Even when a traffic-related criminal conviction is successfully set aside, the Michigan Secretary of State driving record is separate from the MSP criminal history system. MCL 780.621c(5) provides that a set-aside order cannot require removal of the conviction from the driving record; who can obtain or see that record depends on the applicable access rules.

The Michigan Expungement & Record Sealing Guide includes an eligibility matrix showing which offenses qualify for set-aside, which are statutorily excluded, and which require the petition-based pathway versus automatic sealing.

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