Can a DWI be expunged in North Carolina?

A conviction stays: G.S. 15A-145.5(a1)

People search 'DUI expungement', but North Carolina's charge is driving while impaired, DWI, under G.S. 20-138.1, and its conviction statute closes the door in one sentence.

G.S. 15A-145.5 is the statute that lets people expunge nonviolent misdemeanor and felony convictions. Subsection (a1) reads: “An offense involving impaired driving as defined in G.S. 20-4.01(24a) is not eligible for expunction.” That definition in G.S. 20-4.01 covers impaired driving under G.S. 20-138.1, impaired driving in a commercial vehicle under G.S. 20-138.2, habitual impaired driving under G.S. 20-138.5, death or serious injury by vehicle under G.S. 20-141.4 when the conviction is based on impaired driving, and “An offense committed in another jurisdiction which prohibits substantially similar conduct.”

The contrast with other misdemeanors is stark. For one nonviolent misdemeanor the waiting period is “three years after the date of the conviction”; for more than one, “seven years after the date of the person's last conviction.” A first-offense DWI sentenced at Level Five, the lowest level, is still an offense involving impaired driving, and it stays on the court record for good. The statute's history note runs through S.L. 2025-71, so the bar is current.

A dismissed or not-guilty charge can be expunged, now automatically

G.S. 15A-146 covers charges that did not end in a conviction, and it contains no exclusion for DWI or any other Chapter 20 offense. It works two ways.

1. The automatic route, 15A-146(a4)

   When “All charges in the case are disposed on or after December 1, 2021” and “All charges in the case are dismissed without leave, dismissed by the court, or result in a finding of not guilty or not responsible,” then “the charges in the case are expunged by operation of law not less than 180 days and not more than 210 days after the date of final disposition.” No petition, no fee, no hearing. The UNC School of Government summarizes it: “no waiting period, no limit on the number of expunctions, and no disqualification based on prior convictions.”

2. The petition route, 15A-146(a)

   If the charge is dismissed, “that person or the district attorney may petition the court...for an order to expunge.” The petition route has no waiting period either. The $175 fee in subsection (d) applies only to dismissals that follow a deferred prosecution agreement or conditional discharge, which do not exist for DWI, and indigent petitioners are exempt from it regardless.

3. The DMV record follows

   Subsection (b) directs the clerk to forward a copy of the order to the Division of Motor Vehicles “for the expunction of a civil revocation provided the underlying criminal charge is also expunged.” The 30-day civil revocation that came with the arrest is wiped along with the dismissed charge.

The automatic route has a history worth knowing if you had a case dismissed a few years ago. It took effect for charges disposed of on or after December 1, 2021, was paused by S.L. 2022-147 effective August 1, 2022, over technical problems, and was restarted by S.L. 2024-35 effective July 8, 2024, with the 180-to-210-day window. One exclusion: “no case with a felony charge that was dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement will be expunged pursuant to this subsection.” And for dismissals on or after December 1, 2025, a dismissal entered because the defendant was found incapable to proceed is not eligible. This guide could not find the petition form in a source it could cite, so it does not name one.

Why there is no PJC, deferred prosecution or conditional discharge for DWI

In many misdemeanor cases a defendant can avoid a conviction through a prayer for judgment continued, a PJC, or through deferred prosecution or a conditional discharge that ends in a dismissal. DWI is carved out of all three.

G.S. 15A-1341 says it directly: a person “is not eligible for deferred prosecution or a conditional discharge under those subsections if the person is being placed on probation under this Article for a conviction of impaired driving under G.S. 20-138.1.” No other offense is named in that sentence. The PJC bar comes from the courts rather than a statute. The UNC School of Government explains that the appellate courts have read the sentencing provisions in G.S. 20-179 as “a 'mandatory' sentencing regime that prohibits dispositional PJCs in DWI cases,” resting on the North Carolina Supreme Court's holding in In re Greene that courts do not have an inherent power “to continue prayer for judgment on conditions or to suspend sentence where the sentence is made mandatory by the General Assembly.” Even where a PJC exists, insurers count it: G.S. 58-36-65 says “convictions on a driving record shall include convictions for which a prayer for judgment continued was granted.”

A dismissal is not casual, either. Under G.S. 20-138.4, a prosecutor who reduces or dismisses an implied-consent charge must enter detailed facts in the record, “explaining orally in open court and in writing the reasons for his action.” The written form must state the alcohol concentration or the fact of refusal, the driver's prior implied-consent convictions, whether the driver was validly licensed, which elements the prosecutor believes can be proved and which cannot and why, and the name and availability of the charging officer. A copy goes to the head of the officer's agency and into the court file.

What 'on your record' means: the court file, the DMV and the insurer

Three records are in play, and expunction only reaches two of them. The court file is what G.S. 15A-145.5 and 15A-146 govern. The DMV record is fed by the courts: “The court system reports final convictions and findings of responsibility for traffic violations to the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles,” and a DWI conviction triggers a mandatory revocation under G.S. 20-17, one year for a first offense under G.S. 20-19. NCDHHS describes the certificate of completion after assessment and treatment as the form that will “resolve the outstanding DWI offense on your North Carolina record.” For a dismissed charge, 15A-146(b) sends the expunction order to the DMV so the civil revocation is removed too.

The insurance record is separate. Under the Safe Driver Incentive Plan a DWI conviction carries 12 insurance points and a 340% surcharge; the experience period is three years, and for convictions of four points or more on or after July 1, 2025, it is five years. Nothing in the expunction statutes changes that schedule for a conviction. This guide found no source on how private background-check companies treat an expunged dismissal, so it does not say.

Because a not-guilty verdict is one of only two ways to reach an expunction, the appeal rule matters. A DWI in Durham County District Court is tried by a judge without a jury. Under G.S. 15A-1431, a defendant convicted there “may appeal to the superior court for trial de novo with a jury,” and “Within 10 days of entry of judgment, notice of appeal may be given orally in open court or in writing to the clerk.” The appeal “stays the execution of all portions of the judgment,” and the defendant may withdraw it any time before the case is calendared for trial. A lawyer can tell you what a de novo trial would mean in your case.

This post closes the loop of the series. It began where every Durham case does: what happens at the Durham County jail after a DWI arrest.

G.S. 15A-145.5, 15A-146, 15A-1341, 15A-1431 and 20-138.4 quoted from ncleg.gov, current through S.L. 2026-30; automatic-expunction history from the UNC School of Government.