Can an Old Alabama DUI Conviction Be Expunged Before a Background Check
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Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Managing Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed January 1, 2026
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
I was convicted of a DUI in 2013. I have not had any other convictions since.
Attorney Answer
A DUI conviction cannot be expunged in Alabama — no matter how old it is or how clean your record has been since. It will appear on a fingerprint-based background check. That is not the same thing as being disqualified from teaching.
Ala. Code § 15-27-1(b) allows expungement of a misdemeanor, violation, traffic or municipal-ordinance conviction only where probation, parole and all payments are complete, three years have passed, and the offense is not excluded. Section 15-27-1(b)(7) excludes "a serious traffic offense, as provided in Article 9 of Chapter 5A of Title 32." DUI under Ala. Code § 32-5A-191 sits inside that Article. The felony provision, Ala. Code § 15-27-2(c), carries the same exclusion at (c)(7). Either way the door is closed for a DUI.
Alabama does offer different relief. An Order of Limited Relief under Ala. Code §§ 12-26-1 to 12-26-11 does not erase the conviction, but § 12-26-9(i) creates a presumption of rehabilitation and fitness before an occupational licensing board — built for exactly your facts: an old conviction, nothing since, and a licensing decision ahead.
What you can do
1. Order your own Alabama criminal history record now, so you see what the school system will see. 2. Read the disposition line. Old entries often show no disposition or the wrong one, and an unresolved-looking arrest reads far worse than a resolved 2013 DUI. Ask the convicting court to correct any error. 3. Ask a lawyer about petitioning for an Order of Limited Relief under §§ 12-26-1 to 12-26-11 before your application goes in, not after. 4. Answer the disclosure question truthfully. A concealed conviction that the fingerprint check then surfaces is a worse problem than the conviction. 5. Ask the certifying agency in writing what its own rules say about a single, old alcohol-related traffic conviction.
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Frequently Asked Questions
If the DUI cannot be expunged, is there any way to keep it off the report?
No. A fingerprint-based check draws from the state repository, and Ala. Code § 15-27-1(b)(7) keeps serious traffic offenses out of the expungement statute entirely. What you can change is context, not existence — an accurate disposition and an Order of Limited Relief under §§ 12-26-1 to 12-26-11 both go to how the record is read.
Does an Order of Limited Relief guarantee I get hired?
No. Section 12-26-9(i) creates a presumption of rehabilitation and fitness before an occupational licensing board; a presumption can be rebutted, and a private hiring decision is not the same as a licensing decision. It shifts the starting point in your favor, nothing more.
Would the answer be different if the 2013 case had been dismissed instead of convicted?
Yes, materially. Sections 15-27-1(b) and 15-27-2(c) govern expungement of convictions, and their serious-traffic-offense exclusion is what blocks you. Charges that ended without a conviction are handled under different provisions of the same chapter, so a dismissal is worth confirming on your record before assuming anything.
