Can You Expunge a DUI in Mississippi

DUI expungement in Mississippi follows its own statutory track — separate from both misdemeanor and felony expungement rules. The eligibility criteria are strict, the waiting period is longer than for other offenses, and certain categories of drivers are permanently excluded. Here is what current law allows and what disqualifies you.

First-Offense DUI: The Only Expungable DUI

Under Mississippi Code § 63-11-30(13), only a first-offense misdemeanor DUI conviction can be expunged. Second, third, or subsequent DUI convictions are permanently ineligible regardless of how much time passes.

The petition is filed in circuit court — not municipal or justice court, even if the arrest originally occurred at that level. Circuit court has exclusive jurisdiction over DUI expungement petitions.

The Five Strict Eligibility Requirements

Every one of these must be met. Failing a single criterion makes you ineligible:

1. Five years since completion of all sentencing terms. The clock does not start from the conviction date or the arrest date. It starts from the day you fully completed everything the court imposed: MASEP (Mississippi Alcohol Safety Education Program), probation, community service, payment of all fines and court costs, and any other conditions. If a payment remains outstanding or probation is extended, the clock does not start until the last requirement is complete.

2. BAC below 0.16%. Your blood alcohol concentration at the time of the arrest must have tested below 0.16%. If your BAC was 0.16% or higher, expungement is not available — even if it was your first offense.

3. No test refusal. You must have submitted to a chemical breath or blood test, or the test must not have been offered by law enforcement. If you refused the test, you are disqualified from DUI expungement.

4. No other DUI history. You must have no other pending DUI charges, no prior DUI nonadjudication, and no previous DUI expungement. The state separately maintains a permanent registry to enforce the once-per-lifetime limit on DUI nonadjudication.

5. No CDL at the time of the offense. If you held a commercial driver's license or commercial learner's permit when the DUI occurred, you are permanently excluded from both DUI nonadjudication and DUI expungement. This exclusion applies regardless of whether you were driving a commercial vehicle at the time.

DUI Nonadjudication: A Separate (and Also Limited) Track

Mississippi also offers a DUI nonadjudication pathway under § 63-11-30(14), which lets a first-time offender avoid a formal conviction by completing court-ordered conditions. This is separate from general nonadjudication under § 99-15-26.

DUI nonadjudication is strictly limited to once per lifetime, and the state maintains a permanent registry to enforce this. CDL holders are excluded from this pathway as well.

Successful completion of DUI nonadjudication results in a dismissed case, but — just like general nonadjudication — the arrest and program records remain on your background check until you file a separate expungement petition.

Commercial Drivers: No Path to DUI Expungement

CDL holders face a categorical exclusion from DUI relief in Mississippi. Both DUI expungement under § 63-11-30(13) and DUI nonadjudication under § 63-11-30(14) explicitly exclude anyone who held a CDL or commercial learner's permit at the time of the offense.

This means a commercial driver convicted of a first-offense DUI has no statutory Mississippi DUI-expungement or DUI-nonadjudication path to remove that conviction. The conviction remains on the record.

For commercial drivers considering their options, any separate federal commercial-driving consequences require separate review; a Mississippi order does not itself decide them.

The 2026 Felony Waiting Period Change Does Not Apply

House Bill 1546, which reduced the felony expungement waiting period from five years to three years effective July 1, 2026, does not affect DUI expungement. The five-year waiting period under § 63-11-30(13) remains unchanged. Blogs or websites claiming the DUI wait was reduced are conflating two different statutes.

Filing the Petition

The DUI expungement petition is filed in the circuit court of the county where the conviction was entered. The filing requires:

• A sworn petition citing § 63-11-30(13)
• Certified copies of the original DUI charging document and sentencing order
• Proof of MASEP completion
• A certified account ledger showing zero balance on all fines and costs
• Evidence of rehabilitation (employment records, community involvement, character references)

You must provide at least ten days' written notice to the district attorney. If the DA does not object, some judges will sign the order without a hearing. If there is a contested hearing, be prepared to present evidence of rehabilitation and clean post-sentence conduct.

What Expungement Covers — and What It Does Not

A granted DUI expungement removes the conviction from public view in state databases. The Mississippi Criminal Information Center retains a confidential record for law enforcement purposes, and the expungement can be considered in sentencing if you are ever charged with another DUI.

Private background check companies may continue reporting the DUI conviction for some time after the order, since they purchase court data on a delayed schedule. If the conviction appears on a commercial screening report after your expungement is granted, dispute it with the reporting company under the FCRA.

For the complete DUI expungement process — eligibility verification, petition templates, and post-order steps — the Mississippi Expungement & Record Sealing Guide covers the DUI track separately from general expungement.

See more Mississippi guides →