(a) Any person who is a first offender may file a motion for the expungement of all records
and records of conviction for a felony or misdemeanor by filing a motion in the court
in which the conviction took place; provided, that no person who has been convicted
of a crime of violence shall have his or her records and records of conviction expunged;
and provided, that all outstanding court-imposed or court-related fees, fines, costs,
assessments, charges, and/or any other monetary obligations have been paid, unless
such amounts are reduced or waived by order of the court.
(b) Notwithstanding § 12-1.3-1(3) (“first offender”), any person who has been convicted of more than one misdemeanor,
but fewer than six (6) misdemeanors, and has not been convicted of a felony may file
a motion for the expungement of any or all of those misdemeanors by filing a motion
in the court in which the convictions took place; provided that convictions for offenses
under chapter 29 of title 12, § 31-27-2 or § 31-27-2.1 are not eligible for and may not be expunged under this subsection.
(c) Subject to subsection (a), a person may file a motion for the expungement of records
relating to a misdemeanor conviction after five (5) years from the date of the completion
of his or her sentence.
(d) Subject to subsection (a), a person may file a motion for the expungement of records
relating to a felony conviction after ten (10) years from the date of the completion
of his or her sentence.
(e) Subject to § 12-19-19(c), and without regard to subsections (a) through (c) of this section, a person may
file a motion for the expungement of records relating to a deferred sentence upon
its completion, after which the court will hold a hearing on the motion.
(f) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, a person may file a motion for the expungement
of records relating to misdemeanor convictions after ten (10) years from the date
of the completion of their last sentence.
(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) through (f) of this section, a person
may file a motion for the expungement of records related to an offense that has been
decriminalized subsequent to the date of their conviction, after which the court will
hold a hearing on the motion in the court in which the original conviction took place.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
14
cases (
2 in the last 5 years), 1989–2024 · leading case:
State v. Briggs, 934 A.2d 811 (R.I. 2007).
State v. Briggs, 934 A.2d 811 (R.I. 2007).
· cites it 15× “They timely appealed 1 after a hearing justice of that court denied their motions, reasoning that the defendants were not entitled to an automatic erasure of their records, that both came within the ambit of the ex-pungement statute, G.L. 1956 § 12-1.3-2, 2 and that neither…”
State v. Badessa, 869 A.2d 61 (R.I. 2005).
· cites it 15× “Section 12-1.3-2. After a hearing mandated by § 12-1.”
State v. Alejo, 723 A.2d 762 (R.I. 1999).
· cites it 7× “3-1 and in particular §§ 12-1.3-2 and 12-1.3-3. *763 We have issued our writ of certiorari because notwithstanding our earlier order in State v.”
TARZIA v. State, 44 A.3d 1245 (R.I. 2012).
· cites it 2× ““(d) * * * Any agency and/or person who willfully refuses to carry out the expungement of the records of conviction pursuant to § 12-1.3-2, or this section or willfully releases or willfully allows access to records of conviction, knowing them to have been expunged, shall be…”
State v. James Briggs. State v. Anna M. Matthias (Mathias), 58 A.3d 164 (R.I. 2013).
· cites it 3× “The hearing justice found that the deferred sentences were not automatically expunged, but rather that they were subject to the expungement statutes, G.L. 1956 §§ 12-1.3-2 and 12-1.3-3. 2 Briggs I, 934 A.”
State v. Doris E. Poulin, 66 A.3d 419 (R.I. 2013).
“General Laws 1956 § 12-1.3-2(a), "Motion for expungement,” reads: “Any person who is a first offender may file a motion for the expungement of all records and records of conviction for a felony or misdemeanor by filing a motion in the court in which the conviction took place,…”
State v. Young, 201 A.3d 439 (Conn. App. Ct. 2019).
“…any other monetary obligations have been paid, unless such amounts are reduced or waived by order of the court." R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2 (a) (2010).”
State v. Eileen Morrice, 58 A.3d 156 (R.I. 2013).
· cites it 5× “2007) (Briggs I), this Court held that the Superior Court does not have inherent authority to grant expungement upon the completion of a deferred sentence; rather, a defendant must satisfy the requirements for statutory expungement under G.L.1956 § 12-1.3-2. 2 The Court further…”
Hill v. Gill, 703 F. Supp. 1034 (D.R.I. 1989).
· cites it 2× “R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2 (Supp.1981) permits expungement of a felony conviction 10 years or more after the completion of sentence if the petitioner is a first offender and the crime does not involve the use of violence.”
United States v. Stevens, 598 F. Supp. 2d 133 (D. Me. 2009).
“R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2. Notice must be given to the department of the attorney general and police department that originally brought the charge.”
State v. Manocchio, 743 A.2d 555 (R.I. 2000).
“Expungement pursuant to § 12-1.3-2 was also unavailable because defendant was not a first offender, defined by the' statute as a person “who has not been previously convicted of or placed on probation for a felony or a misdemeanor and against whom there is no criminal proceeding…”
State v. Victor Tavares (R.I. 2024).
· cites it 4× “On December 5, 2022, defendant filed a motion for expungement in the 2006 action, stating that the 2006 action was never true-billed by the grand jury nor read in open court and that G.L. 1956 § 12-1.3-2(a) violates both the United States and state constitutions given that it…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2(a) — 6 cases
State v. Briggs, 934 A.2d 811 (R.I. 2007).
“They timely appealed 1 after a hearing justice of that court denied their motions, reasoning that the defendants were not entitled to an automatic erasure of their records, that both came within the ambit of the ex-pungement statute, G.L. 1956 § 12-1.3-2, 2 and that neither…”
State v. Badessa, 869 A.2d 61 (R.I. 2005).
“Section 12-1.3-2. After a hearing mandated by § 12-1.”
State v. Doris E. Poulin, 66 A.3d 419 (R.I. 2013).
“General Laws 1956 § 12-1.3-2(a), "Motion for expungement,” reads: “Any person who is a first offender may file a motion for the expungement of all records and records of conviction for a felony or misdemeanor by filing a motion in the court in which the conviction took place,…”
State v. James Briggs. State v. Anna M. Matthias (Mathias), 58 A.3d 164 (R.I. 2013).
“The hearing justice found that the deferred sentences were not automatically expunged, but rather that they were subject to the expungement statutes, G.L. 1956 §§ 12-1.3-2 and 12-1.3-3. 2 Briggs I, 934 A.”
State v. Eileen Morrice, 58 A.3d 156 (R.I. 2013).
“2007) (Briggs I), this Court held that the Superior Court does not have inherent authority to grant expungement upon the completion of a deferred sentence; rather, a defendant must satisfy the requirements for statutory expungement under G.L.1956 § 12-1.3-2. 2 The Court further…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2(b) — 1 case
State v. Eileen Morrice, 58 A.3d 156 (R.I. 2013).
“2007) (Briggs I), this Court held that the Superior Court does not have inherent authority to grant expungement upon the completion of a deferred sentence; rather, a defendant must satisfy the requirements for statutory expungement under G.L.1956 § 12-1.3-2. 2 The Court further…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2(b)(c) — 1 case
State v. Badessa, 869 A.2d 61 (R.I. 2005).
“Section 12-1.3-2. After a hearing mandated by § 12-1.”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2(g) — 1 case
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.