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Governor Signs Drunk Driving Expungement Statute into Law

Michigan legislators have made several attempts to modify the Michigan expungement statute which previously prohibited applicability of the expungement statute to drunk driving convictions. Fortunately, our state legislatures keep at it and Governor Whitmer recently signed a new law allowing expungement of certain drunk driving convictions. The new law went into effect on February 23, 2021.

Who Qualifies

Simply put, the new law applies to any person who only has one prior conviction for a drunk or drugged driving offense in the state of Michigan. Under the new law, a person with only one prior OWI type conviction may apply to have the conviction set aside under Michigan’s newly amended expungement statute. The automatic expungement provisions of that new law do not apply to OWIs so to have your OWI conviction set aside you must apply to the court.

An application to set-aside an OWI type conviction cannot be file until five (5) years after the last of the following has occurred:

  1. Imposition of the sentence for the conviction which is to be set aside;

  2. Completion of any probation term related to the conviction;

  3. Completion of any jail sentence related to the conviction.

How Does the Court Decide Whether or Not to Set Aside an OWI Conviction

Applying to have a first offense OWI type conviction set aside under the new law does not guarantee the court will grant the request. Having a OWI conviction set aside is a privilege and not a right. The court may grant or deny such a request in its sound discretion.

However, the new OWI expungement statute does provide some guidance on what factors the court should consider in deciding whether or not to grant the request. These factors include:

  1. Whether or not the applicant has benefited from educational or rehabilitative programs under taken before sentence or as ordered by the court at sentencing; and

  2. Any other information available to the court which bears on the applicants rehabilitation or education.

The statute specifically provides that the reviewing court may deny the application if it finds that the applicant has not availed him or herself of rehabilitative programs or has not benefitted from them.

Thus, it is very important for those who are convicted of a first offense OWI to make sure and take advantage of any available rehabilitative or educational programming offered.

If you would like assistance in applying to have your OWI conviction set aside please contact me today.

Philip Curtis