A prior blog discussed a potential law change under consideration in the Washington Legislature that would permit the vacate of DUI convictions.  The bill received early support in the House Community Safety Committee, earning a “do pass” recommendation.  Unfortunately, not enough support could be garnered to obtain a full vote before the legislature.  The bill is dead, and won't become law this year.

What does the vacate law currently say about vacating DUI convictions?  The vacate law, RCW 9.96.060, expressly states that no DUI or physical control conviction may be vacated.  Period.  However, the opportunity exists to vacate certain “prior offenses;” this means a conviction for a charge that started as a DUI or Physical Control, but was amended to something else.  Under Washington law there many types of prior offense crimes.  But the two most frequently used are Reckless Driving and Negligent Driving first degree.  This means a person was charged with DUI or Physical Control, but the charge was amended to one of these offenses before a guilty plea or guilty verdict was entered.

If a person has a prior offense conviction, how does it get vacated?  The rules are a little different for this type of case.  A person must first wait ten years from the date of arrest to file a petition.  A person must also not have any other drug or alcohol violation on their record within ten years of the date of arrest.  These requirements are unique to prior offense cases and do not apply to any other vacate petition.  Once this ten year wait period is met, the person must meet the other statutory requirements: complete all sentence conditions, have no pending charges, be conviction free for three years, and not be subject to certain types of restraining orders.  Once these requirements are met, the court has discretion to vacate the prior offense conviction.  In a prior blog I described how our courts have interpreted this discretion to mean post-conviction rehabilitation.

In my experience many prosecutors object to the vacate of prior offense convictions.  It is important to educate the court on how it must apply its discretion.  This also means providing personal information to the court to assess how a person has been rehabilitated since the conviction occurred.

Robertson Law is here to help you understand and navigate the vacate laws of Washington State.  Please call or email Robertson Law with any questions you may have about your case.