Can I clear my record in Louisiana?

Automatic clearing

Act 454 of 2023 added C.Cr.P. art. 985.2, which would have the State Police bureau identify records eligible under arts. 976-978 and, starting January 1, 2025, let a person submit a request (name, date of birth, last four digits of the Social Security number, arrest date and case number) to have eligible records expunged within 30 days, with clerks then marking them as expunged by automation. Under Section 4 of Act 454, the automated-expungement provisions take effect only when acts appropriating money to the State Police, the Louisiana Supreme Court, the Louisiana Clerks' Remote Access Authority and the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement for this purpose take effect. The legislature's code text, read on October 22, 2026, still marks art. 985.2 "eff. upon appropriation of monies by the Legislature," and the article says it is subject to funding in the executive budget for Fiscal Year 2025-2026. The State Police expungement page we read the same day describes only court-filed motions and does not mention automated requests. We found no official notice that the money has been appropriated, so no date for automated relief has been set and you still need to file a motion.^7,10,26

DUI and DWI records in Louisiana

A DWI (R.S. 14:98, now titled operating a vehicle while impaired) can be expunged under the general rules, with extra steps. A first or second offense is usually a misdemeanor: the jail term is up to 6 months with no hard labor (R.S. 14:98.1(A)(1), 14:98.2(A)(1)), and art. 894(A)(3) calls a second offense a misdemeanor. A second offense can be punished with hard labor, and so is a felony, when the earlier offense was vehicular homicide, third degree feticide or first degree vehicular negligent injuring (R.S. 14:98.2(D)). A misdemeanor DWI can be expunged right after a set-aside under art. 894(B), or more than 5 years after the sentence ends with no felony conviction in that time (art. 977). A third offense is punished by 1 to 5 years with or without hard labor (R.S. 14:98.3(A)(1)), which makes it a felony (R.S. 14:2(A)(4)), so it follows the 10-year felony rule (art. 978); crimes of violence under R.S. 14:2(B) are excluded. A DWI arrest sent to pretrial diversion can be expunged 5 years after the arrest (art. 976(B)). You must attach a certified letter from the Office of Motor Vehicles and pay an extra $50 court cost (art. 984). A DWI set-aside under art. 894 is allowed only once in 10 years (art. 894(B)(2)). An expunged or set-aside DWI can still count as a prior offense (arts. 894(B)(2), 973(E)). For sentencing a new DWI, R.S. 14:98(C)(3) does not count a prior offense committed more than 10 years before, but time spent awaiting trial, on probation or parole for a DWI-type offense, or incarcerated is excluded when counting those 10 years, so the lookback can reach further back. We did not confirm how commercial driver's license records are affected.^{1,5,11,12,16,18,27,28,29,30,31,32}

Arrests and dismissed charges

An arrest that did not lead to a conviction can be expunged once the case ends in dismissal, a motion to quash or acquittal, once the DA declines to prosecute (including after pretrial diversion), or once the time limit for prosecution runs (C.Cr.P. art. 976). A DWI arrest sent to pretrial diversion must wait 5 years from the arrest (art. 976(B)). It is free if the DA certifies that you have no felony convictions or pending felony charges and that you were acquitted, or the case was dismissed or refused with the DA's consent, or never prosecuted, without pretrial diversion (art. 983(F)). People arrested at 17 can get a free expedited expungement (art. 999).^1,3,22

Marijuana records

A misdemeanor conviction for first offense possession of marijuana, THC or chemical derivatives can be expunged 90 days after the conviction, using the special form in art. 998 (C.Cr.P. art. 977(D)). A $300 fee cap for these expungements (art. 983(M)) ended on August 1, 2026 under its own sunset clause, so the general fees of up to $550 appear to apply now; ask the clerk. Other marijuana convictions follow the regular misdemeanor or felony rules; felony possession and offenses punishable by 5 years or less are among the drug convictions that can be expunged (art. 978(B)(3)). Nothing is expunged automatically.^3,11,15,16

What employers can see afterward

After an expungement, you are not required to tell anyone that you were arrested or convicted, or that the record was expunged, except law enforcement, criminal justice agencies, prosecutors and a court acting under C.Cr.P. art. 973(A) (art. 973(C)). Listed licensing boards and anyone requesting a full criminal history under R.S. 15:587.1 can still get the expunged record confidentially (art. 973(B)). Private background-check companies not covered by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act or Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act may not report the record after you send them notice of the order, and can be liable for damages if they do (art. 974). Louisiana's ban-the-box law applies to state employers: they may not ask about criminal history, including on the application form, until you have had a chance to interview (or have a conditional offer if there is no interview). They may still consider your record in the final decision, and the law lists what they may consider: the nature and gravity of the conduct, the time since it happened and how it bears on the job's duties. The law covers positions in the state unclassified service and excludes law enforcement, corrections and positions where a criminal background check is required by law (R.S. 42:1701). We did not find a Louisiana statute limiting when private employers may ask about criminal records.^5,9,33

Free help in Louisiana

• LouisianaLawHelp.org: Expungement or sealing of a criminal record

  Statewide legal help site explaining the steps, in forma pauperis fee waivers and free or low-cost help such as the Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana. The page shows no review date.

• LouisianaLawHelp.org: Find free legal aid by parish

  Directory of legal aid programs by parish.

• Louisiana State Police: Expungements

  How the State Police process expungement orders, the $250 money order, common mistakes on the motion, and how to get a fingerprint-based Right to Review of your own record.

Before you file

• You can ask a background screening company for the information it has on you, and the CFPB keeps a list of consumer reporting companies, including employment screening companies, with their contact details.^37,38,39
• The FCRA's seven-year limit does not apply to criminal convictions, so under federal law a conviction can show up on a background report no matter how old it is.^40,41