The court date is behind you. The fine is paid, or on a payment plan. Now you are filling out a job application, or an apartment form, or an insurance quote, and the same question keeps coming up. How long does a DUI stay on your record in California?
There is no single answer, because there is no single record. A DUI lands on three of them, and each one has its own clock. Here is how each works, what the 2026 and 2027 law changes did to them, and what you can actually do to shorten the damage.
Three records, three clocks
| Record | Who sees it | How long the DUI stays |
|---|---|---|
| Criminal record (California DOJ) | Courts, police, licensing boards, some employers | Until a court dismisses it under Penal Code 1203.4. There is no automatic expiration. |
| DMV driving record | Courts, law enforcement, insurance companies | 10 years from the date of the offense, under Vehicle Code 1808 |
| Private background checks | Most employers and landlords | 7 years from the date the case was resolved, under Civil Code 1786.18 |
Most people only think about the first one. The second and third are the ones that decide whether you get the job or the apartment.
Your criminal record: it stays until you act
A DUI conviction, misdemeanor or felony, sits on your California criminal record with no end date. It does not fall off after five years, or ten, or twenty. The only way to change its status is to ask the court to dismiss it under Penal Code 1203.4, which is what most people mean when they say expungement.
That dismissal does less than the name suggests. The court withdraws your guilty plea and dismisses the case. That changes how the conviction shows up to most private employers. It does not erase the conviction. The record still exists, it still counts as a prior if you pick up another DUI, and you still have to disclose it if you apply for public office or a state license. The steps to get it are at the end of this article.
The 10-year look-back period
California counts a prior DUI against you for 10 years. Under Vehicle Code 23540 and the related sentencing sections, a second DUI is punished more harshly if the earlier violation happened within 10 years of the new one. A wet reckless conviction counts as a prior too.
The clock runs from the date of the first offense to the date of the second offense. Not from the arrest. Not from the conviction. Say you were stopped on Rosedale Highway on March 10, 2018, and pleaded guilty that summer. A new DUI on March 1, 2028 is a second offense. A new DUI on March 20, 2028 is not.
A second offense inside that window means mandatory jail, a longer license suspension, a longer DUI program, and higher fines. A 1203.4 dismissal of the first DUI does not help here. The prior still counts.
What changes in 2027
Two laws signed in September 2026 take effect on January 1, 2027:
- Under Assembly Bill 1546, a third DUI within 10 years can be charged as a felony instead of a misdemeanor.
- Under Senate Bill 907, any time a DUI is reduced to a lesser charge such as a wet reckless, the court must warn you that a future DUI that kills someone can be charged as murder. That warning is what makes a later murder charge possible, so a plea deal no longer lets you avoid it.
The practical point is that each DUI inside the 10-year window raises the stakes for the next one, and the Legislature just raised them again.
Your DMV record and your insurance
The DMV keeps the DUI on your driving record for 10 years from the date of the offense. Insurance companies can see it the whole time.
The cost shows up two ways. First, under Insurance Code 1861.025, a DUI conviction in the past 10 years makes you ineligible for California’s Good Driver Discount, which is the 20 percent discount most careful drivers get without thinking about it. Second, after a DUI you will usually have to file an SR-22, which is a form your insurer sends the DMV to prove you carry coverage. Insurers price SR-22 drivers as high risk.
How much your premium goes up depends on your insurer, your age, and the rest of your record. Get quotes from several companies rather than trusting an average you read online. The numbers vary a lot.
One more DMV point. A 1203.4 dismissal does nothing to your driving record. Vehicle Code 13555 says so directly. Your DMV record will show the DUI for the full 10 years no matter what the criminal court does.
Employment and background checks
This is where the news is better than most people expect, and where the old advice to just be upfront is incomplete.
Seven years, not forever. Civil Code 1786.18 bars background-check companies from reporting a conviction that is more than seven years old, counted from the date the case was resolved or you were released from custody. A 2016 DUI should not appear on a standard employment screen run in 2026.
They cannot ask first. Government Code 12952, known as the Fair Chance Act, bars any employer with five or more employees from asking about your conviction history, on the application or in the interview, until after they have made you a conditional job offer. If they then want to pull the offer because of the DUI, they have to do an individual assessment, tell you in writing, and give you a chance to respond.
Example: You apply for a warehouse job in Bakersfield three years after a misdemeanor DUI. The application cannot ask about convictions. You interview, get an offer, and then a background check shows the DUI. The employer has to consider whether a three-year-old DUI actually relates to a warehouse job before pulling the offer. If you already have a 1203.4 dismissal, the report shows it as dismissed, which most employers treat as closed.
Jobs that involve driving are different. A commercial license, a delivery route, or a company vehicle means the employer can look at your DMV record, and that record shows the DUI for 10 years. Licensing boards for nurses, teachers, real estate agents and similar professions can see the full DOJ record.
Ignition interlock devices: what the 2026 change did
You may have read that California made ignition interlock devices mandatory for every DUI in 2026. That is not what happened. Assembly Bill 366 extended the existing program, which was due to expire on January 1, 2026, to January 1, 2033. The rules did not change. A 2026 bill to require IIDs for all first offenders, AB 1830, did not pass.
An IID is a breath tester wired into your car. You blow into it to start the engine and at random while driving. Under Vehicle Code 23575.3, a first-offense DUI without injury leaves it up to the judge: an IID for up to six months, or a restricted license through the DMV, but not both. A second offense means 12 months, a third 24 months, and a fourth or any felony DUI 36 months. Installation and the monthly fees come out of your pocket, which is one reason to understand the ignition interlock device program in California before sentencing rather than after.
The IID restriction goes on your DMV record. The device itself is not a criminal record entry. The conviction behind it is.
Can you get a DUI expunged in California?
Yes, for most misdemeanor and many felony DUIs. The requirements under Penal Code 1203.4:
- You were sentenced to probation and finished it, or a judge ended it early. DUI probation runs three to five years, longer than most misdemeanors, so this is usually the long part unless a judge agrees to end your probation early.
- You are not currently on probation for anything else and have no open charges.
- You did not serve a state prison sentence for the DUI. A felony DUI that ended in prison needs a different form of relief.
Your attorney files a petition in the Kern County Superior Court department that handled the case. If the judge grants it, the conviction is dismissed for most purposes. It still counts as a prior for 10 years, still has to be disclosed for public office and state licenses, and still sits on your DMV record. What it does do is change the answer on most private job applications, which is the main reason people go through the expungement process in California at all.
Quick answers
Does a DUI ever go away in California?
Not on its own. The DMV record clears after 10 years. The criminal record stays until a court dismisses it, and even then the conviction exists in the court file.
Does a DUI show up on a background check after 7 years?
Usually not on a private employment or rental check, because Civil Code 1786.18 bars reporting convictions older than seven years. It can still show on a DMV record pull for 10 years, and on a government or licensing check.
Can a DUI be a felony in California?
Yes. A DUI that injures someone, a DUI with a prior felony DUI, a fourth DUI within 10 years, and, starting January 1, 2027, a third DUI within 10 years can all be charged as felonies.
How long after a DUI can you get it expunged?
As soon as probation ends. For a first DUI that usually means three years, unless the judge grants early termination.
Talk to a Bakersfield DUI attorney
The record question has three answers, and the right move depends on which record is holding you back. If you are facing a DUI charge in Kern County, want to end probation early, or are ready to petition for a dismissal, contact the Law Office of David L. Faulkner for a free consultation. We will tell you what the dismissal can and cannot fix in your case.
