Once convicted, Tennessee DUI record never goes away
There’s a reason we don’t write too much under the Expungement category for this blog. It’s because under Tennessee law, expungement isn’t an option in drunk driving cases.
It might be for some crimes, but even if the conviction is your first offense and a misdemeanor impaired driving charge, the law does not allow an individual to seek to have it erased. Nor can the record even be sealed.
There may be instances in which official records mysteriously disappear. But that doesn’t happen very often and when it does, interestingly, the individual involved is usually someone of some social prominence.
No, Tennessee does not tend to treat suspected drunk drivers with kid gloves. If you are stopped, tested, arrested and charged with driving under the influence you need to be fully aware of your rights. Lacking that, you could wind up walking blindly down a procedural path that has consequences that go well beyond the sentence imposed by the court.
Because a DUI conviction can’t be expunged, it could show up on a background check performed by a prospective employer or landlord. If you have a job, a conviction could result in your being fired or facing some other form of employer disciplinary action.
What if you rely on your driver’s license for your job? In some instances, you could lose that privilege. It could even negatively affect your efforts to get retrained for some other line of work.
Just because the system may feel as if it is stacked against the suspect it should not be taken to mean that no strategies exist for defending against DUI charges. Each case is different and the way to know what your options may be is by contacting an attorney experienced in dealing with such cases.