New Hampshire DWI Annulment
A DWI conviction can have serious long-term penalties. In addition to the license suspension, fines and other consequences of a sentence, a DWI will remain on an offender's criminal record which is accessible to jobs, educational institutions and even housing complexes when a background check is performed. Many institutions look down on DWI offenders and may reject an application because of it.
When a person has a conviction on the record for driving while intoxicated, it could make it difficult for them to find a job, get admitted into a school, get a loan or even find housing. Because of this, the state of New Hampshire allows offenders to a petition the court to have their records expunged. In New Hampshire, this process is referred to as annulment. If you have been convicted of DWI in New Hampshire and would like to find out more about getting it removed from your criminal record, contact Russman Law today.
New Hampshire DWI Expungement Process
According to New Hampshire DWI laws, a person who is convicted of driving while intoxicated or aggravated driving while intoxicated must wait 10 years before they can petition for an annulment. New Hampshire law RSA 265-A:21I states:
[N]o court shall order an annulment of any record of conviction of driving or attempting to drive a vehicle upon any way or driving, operating, attempting to operate, or being in actual physical control of an OHRV or operating or attempting to operate a boat on the waters of this state while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any controlled drug, prescription drug, over-the-counter drug, or any other chemical substance, natural or synthetic, which impairs a person's ability to drive or while having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more or of aggravated drunken driving until 10 years after the date of conviction. Any record thus annulled shall be retained in a permanent file, to be opened only for purposes of sentencing in the case of an offense under RSA 265-A:3.
To file for annulment, the offender must pay a $100 fee and the court will look into their criminal record to make sure there are no other criminal charges and that no one will be endangered if the expungement is granted. If a person has multiple charges on their record, they must wait until the time period for annulment an under RSA 651:5 has passed before they can seek annulment for any one offense. If the court finds that there is no reason why it should not be granted, the offense will be sealed and retained in the offender's permanent file. It will only be open for purposes of sentencing should they be convicted of another offense under RSA 265-A:3.
New Hampshire DWI Annulment Attorney
Having a record expungement does not mean that it is gone forever. It does mean that the court will not release the information in the future, but any existing criminal record requested prior to the annulment will still show the DWI conviction. In addition, no party is required to update their records once the court grants an expungement. The good news is that showing proof that the offense has been expunged is often helpful and the offender can legally say that they have never been convicted of a crime once the annulment is granted.
Getting a record annulled can be very beneficial to some people. To find out more about this process or to begin petitioning for annulment of a DWI or aggravated DWI, call DWI lawyer Ryan Russman now.
