Expunging Multiple DUI Convictions in Utah

Glen Neeley evaluates multi-conviction expungement cases where a single-conviction calculator gives the wrong answer. With more than one DUI, or a DUI mixed in with other criminal history, two separate rules have to clear at once: each conviction's own eligibility and waiting period, and a numerical ceiling on your total record under Utah Code 77-40a-303. Miss either one and a petition that looks eligible on paper gets denied.

Glen has handled DUI defense and post-conviction relief since 1998. He is a board-certified DUI defense specialist through the National College for DUI Defense, where he also serves on faculty, and he has completed the Borkenstein Course on breath and blood alcohol testing. That combination matters here because the same facts that shaped your original DUI charges, felony versus misdemeanor, prior convictions, testing issues, also shape whether a later expungement is even possible.

Why Multiple Convictions Change the Analysis

A common assumption is that Utah hands out a fixed allowance of expungements per category, one felony, a certain number of misdemeanors, to be used as you see fit. That is not how the law works. Utah Code 77-40a-303 instead sets disqualification thresholds based on the total size of your criminal history. Cross one of these thresholds and you become ineligible to expunge any conviction, not just the one that pushed you over the line.

So the real question with multiple convictions is rarely which ones to pick. It is whether your overall record stays under the statutory limits, and whether each conviction you want cleared has separately satisfied its own waiting period. Both conditions must be true at the same time.

The Numerical Limits Under Utah Code 77-40a-303

Utah Code 77-40a-303(4) sets the ceilings for convictions other than drug possession, and 77-40a-303(5) sets separate ceilings for drug possession offenses. Under either subsection, a person's criminal history, counting convictions already expunged, makes them ineligible if it contains any of the following, each conviction arising from a separate criminal episode:

• Two or more felony convictions (other than drug possession), each from a separate criminal episode
• Three or more convictions, of which two or more are class A misdemeanors (other than drug possession)
• Three or more felony drug possession convictions
• Four or more convictions other than drug possession, of which three are class B misdemeanors
• Five or more drug possession convictions in any combination
• Five or more convictions of any degree other than drug possession

Utah Code 77-40a-303(7) provides some relief with time. Once at least ten years have passed for every conviction on the record, measured from conviction or release from incarceration, parole, or probation, whichever came last, the felony and class A misdemeanor ceilings each increase by one. The class B and total-conviction ceilings stop applying altogether where the most serious offense in the criminal episode is a class B misdemeanor or lower. A record that is barred today can become eligible later purely through the passage of time.

Felony DUI Cannot Be Expunged, Ever

For multi-conviction DUI cases, one rule outranks all the others: a felony DUI conviction cannot be expunged at all. Under Utah Code 77-40a-303(2)(a)(iv), a felony DUI (a felony conviction described in Utah Code 41-6a-501(2)) is permanently ineligible for expungement, regardless of how much time passes and regardless of the numerical limits in 77-40a-303. A third DUI within ten years, or a DUI after a prior felony DUI, is a third-degree felony, and it stays on the record permanently unless its classification changes.

That change comes from a reduction under Utah Code 76-3-402, a separate legal process often pursued after successful completion of probation. If a felony DUI is reduced to a misdemeanor, it is no longer a felony DUI, and it can then follow the misdemeanor DUI expungement path. A 76-3-402 reduction can do double duty in a multi-conviction case: it opens an otherwise permanently barred felony DUI to eventual expungement, and it lowers your felony count for purposes of the 77-40a-303 numerical limits.

Each DUI Runs Its Own 10-Year Clock

Even where a DUI conviction is eligible, its waiting period runs longer than most misdemeanors. A misdemeanor DUI carries a 10-year waiting period under Utah Code 77-40a-303, measured from the date of conviction or release from incarceration, parole, or probation, whichever came last, and only after all fines, interest, and restitution are paid in full. That is far longer than the four-year period that applies to an ordinary non-DUI class B misdemeanor.

With more than one DUI, each conviction runs its own independent 10-year clock. Someone with DUIs from different years can become eligible to petition on the older conviction well before the more recent one. It is also worth remembering that a second DUI within ten years of the first is charged as a class A misdemeanor rather than a class B, which affects both its classification and how it counts toward the numerical limits.

Clean Slate Does Not Cover DUI

Utah's Clean Slate law provides automatic expungement of certain qualifying offenses without a petition. DUI convictions are specifically excluded from that automatic process under Utah Code 77-40a-205. A DUI always requires a traditional petition; there is no automatic path for it. Anyone hoping to clear a DUI has to go through the certificate-of-eligibility and court-petition process rather than wait for it to clear on its own.

Setting Priorities When Your Record Is Near the Limits

When a record sits close to the numerical thresholds, the order and strategy of filings matters. Several factors guide that analysis.

• Severity first: felony convictions carry the heaviest consequences for employment, housing, and licensing, so a felony that has been reduced and made eligible is often the priority to clear
• Offense type: a DUI affects driving-related employment, insurance, and certain professional licenses, while a non-DUI conviction may affect other areas
• Licensing and employer requirements: if a board or employer asks specifically about felonies, a reduced-and-eligible felony takes priority; if the inquiry targets one offense type, that shapes the order
• Future exposure: because the numerical limits count your total history, including convictions already expunged, a future conviction can change your eligibility picture, which is worth understanding before you plan around it

Filing Separately or Together

Each conviction has its own independent waiting period, so someone with two DUI convictions from different years may become eligible to petition on one well before the other. You do not have to wait until every conviction is eligible before filing. Each petition stands on its own: you can file on the first as soon as its 10-year period runs, and on the second when its period completes.

Whether to file separately or together depends on your goals. Filing together can be more efficient when both convictions become eligible around the same time. Filing the most impactful conviction first makes more sense when the eligibility dates are far apart. Because the Bureau of Criminal Identification certificate-of-eligibility fee and the court filing fee apply to each petition separately, handling multiple petitions together may also reduce overall attorney costs. Fee amounts are adjusted periodically, so confirm current figures with BCI (801-965-4445) before filing.

How This Plays Out in Practice

Two misdemeanor DUIs, more than ten years apart, no other record

Two convictions do not exceed the numerical limits, so nothing bars the record on that basis. Each DUI carries its own 10-year waiting period running from conviction or release from incarceration, parole, or probation, whichever came last, so the older conviction becomes eligible to petition first and the newer one later. Both can ultimately be cleared, each through its own petition.

One felony DUI plus one misdemeanor DUI

The felony DUI cannot be expunged in its current form; it is permanently ineligible. The realistic strategy is to pursue a 76-3-402 reduction of the felony to a misdemeanor first. If granted, that conviction can then follow the 10-year misdemeanor path, and the reduction also lowers the felony count for the numerical limits. The misdemeanor DUI proceeds on its own 10-year timeline in parallel.

A DUI plus an unrelated class B theft conviction

The two-conviction total stays under the numerical limits absent other history. The remaining question is whether each conviction has cleared its own waiting period: 10 years for the DUI, but only four years for the non-DUI class B theft. The differing waiting periods, not any category quota, drive the timing here.

What an Attorney Reviews in a Multi-Conviction Case

Multi-conviction expungement requires a full view of your entire criminal history, including out-of-state convictions and anything already expunged, because all of it counts toward the numerical limits. Glen evaluates each conviction's eligibility and waiting period, checks the total record against the 77-40a-303 thresholds, identifies where a 76-3-402 reduction could unlock an otherwise-barred felony, and builds a prioritized filing plan.

A consultation includes a timeline projection showing when each conviction becomes eligible and a recommended order of filing, along with an assessment of whether a charge reduction should come first. For a single, uncomplicated conviction, see how the standard waiting periods work; multiple convictions require the fuller analysis above.

Multiple-Offense Expungement Questions

Talk to Glen Neeley About Your Case

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