By Matthew T. Marin, Esq. — Counsel of record in State ex rel. Coventry Police Department v. Charlwood, 224 A.3d 480 (R.I. 2020), the Rhode Island Supreme Court decision that expanded record-sealing eligibility under § 12-1-12 — the sealing companion to the expungement statute this page covers. Reviewed for legal accuracy by Stefanie A. Murphy, Esq. | Updated: May 7, 2026

Can You Expunge a Felony in Rhode Island?

Yes — but only under specific conditions. Rhode Island law allows expungement of a single first-offender felony conviction under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2(a) and (d). To qualify, you must meet all of the following:

• The felony is your only felony conviction on record
• The offense is not on the closed crime-of-violence list at § 12-1.3-1(1)
• You have completed your entire sentence — incarceration, probation, fines, restitution, court costs, and any other condition of the original sentence
• At least ten years have passed since sentence completion
• You have no pending criminal charges and no new convictions since

If you have more than one felony conviction, current Rhode Island law does not allow expungement under Chapter 12-1.3 — though that may change. See the H7079 section below for the pending legislation that could expand eligibility to multiple non-violent felony convictions.

For a broader overview of who qualifies across misdemeanor, felony, and dismissed charges, see our complete Rhode Island expungement eligibility guide.

Pre-2021 Drug Felonies and Pre-2012 Larceny Felonies — A Different Path

If your felony is a simple possession of ten grams or less of a non-marijuana controlled substance from before July 9, 2021, or a larceny under $1,500 from before 2012, your conviction is now treated as a misdemeanor for expungement purposes under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-1(5), as added by 2024 amendment. That puts you on the five-year wait of the misdemeanor track instead of the ten-year felony wait — and changes the legal framing your petition has to use. Reclassification petitions are more legally involved than a straight first-offender expungement; the framing has to be argued explicitly, and the Attorney General’s Office reviews these closely. Call our office at (401) 228-8271 if you think this path may apply to you.

Which Felonies Can Be Expunged in Rhode Island?

Eligibility turns on two questions: Is the offense on the closed crime-of-violence list? And is it your only felony conviction? The table below maps common felony types to eligibility status. If your offense is not listed, the safest step is a free consultation — the line between “violent” and “non-violent” under Rhode Island law is set by a specific statutory list, not by intuition.

The Closed Crime-of-Violence List

The convictions that can never be expunged in Rhode Island are listed verbatim in R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-1(1). The list is closed — meaning if your offense is not on it, it is not a “crime of violence” for expungement purposes. The list is:

• Murder
• Manslaughter
• First-degree arson
• Kidnapping with intent to extort
• Robbery
• Larceny from the person
• First-degree sexual assault
• Second-degree sexual assault
• First-degree child molestation
• Second-degree child molestation
• Assault with intent to murder
• Assault with intent to rob
• Assault with intent to commit first-degree sexual assault
• Burglary
• Entering a dwelling house with intent to commit murder, robbery, sexual assault, or larceny

Two notes most online expungement summaries get wrong. First, third-degree sexual assault is not on the list — meaning it is potentially expungeable as a non-violent felony (though sex offender registration obligations are governed by a separate statutory regime and are not affected by expungement). Second, simple assault and aggravated assault are not on the list — meaning some assault felonies are eligible for expungement, depending on the specific charge of conviction. The classification turns on the exact statute you were convicted under, not the colloquial label.

If you are unsure whether your offense qualifies for expungement, do not assume. The classification is statutory and specific. A Rhode Island expungement attorney can review your record and give you a definitive answer.

The 10-Year Waiting Period: When Does the Clock Start?

Sentence Completion — Not Conviction Date

The ten-year waiting period under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2(d) begins when you complete your entire sentence — not the date of your conviction or the date you left incarceration. “Sentence completion” under § 12-1.3-2(f) means all of it: any period of incarceration, any probationary period, any community service obligation, all fines and court costs, all restitution, and any other condition of the original sentence. If you served three years in prison and had five years of probation, your ten-year clock starts at the end of probation — not the day you walked out of the ACI.

This distinction matters. Many people miscalculate eligibility because they count from conviction or from the day they left incarceration. An attorney reviewing your case will calculate the precise eligibility date from your actual sentence-completion records.

What Can Reset or Extend the Clock?

Any new conviction during the ten-year window resets your eligibility entirely. A misdemeanor conviction — even something minor — occurring after your felony sentence but before the ten-year mark disqualifies you. The statute requires no intervening criminal convictions of any kind during the waiting period.

Pending charges also bar eligibility. You cannot file a petition while any criminal charge is unresolved. If your charge is later dismissed, eligibility may be restored — and Rule 48(a) dismissals on or after January 1, 2023 are automatically sealed by the court within ten to twenty days under § 12-1-12.1(a)(1), no motion required. See our expungement eligibility guide for how dismissed charges and sealing are treated.

A Note on the Multi-Misdemeanor Path

If your record includes both a felony and multiple misdemeanors, you may be tempted to clear the misdemeanors first under the multi-misdemeanor path at § 12-1.3-2(b). Note that the multi-misdemeanor path specifically excludes DUI convictions, chemical-test refusal convictions, and domestic-violence convictions. If your misdemeanors include any of those, the multi-misdemeanor path is not available — though those misdemeanors may still be expungeable individually under the single-misdemeanor path at § 12-1.3-2(a) and (c).

Multiple Felonies — What H7079 Could Change

Under current law, two felony convictions permanently bar expungement under Chapter 12-1.3 regardless of how much time has passed. Rhode Island House Bill H7079 would change that — allowing eligible Rhode Islanders to expunge up to four non-violent felony convictions after a 15-year waiting period. The bill cleared the House Judiciary Committee on a 10-5 vote on April 28, 2026. The Rhode Island Senate passed companion bill S 3036 on March 31, 2026.

Important: H7079 has not been signed into law as of May 7, 2026. Do not assume you currently qualify if you have multiple felony convictions. Call our office at (401) 228-8271 to monitor the bill’s status — if it passes, you may be among the first eligible to file.

How to File for Felony Expungement in Rhode Island

Felony expungement petitions are filed in Rhode Island Superior Court — the same court where your case was originally heard. The process has six distinct steps. For the complete procedural guide covering both misdemeanor and felony cases, see How the Rhode Island Expungement Process Works.

Step 1: Confirm Eligibility

Before filing anything, verify that your offense qualifies — single first-offender felony, ten years past sentence completion, no intervening convictions, no pending charges, not on the § 12-1.3-1(1) crime-of-violence list. Pull your BCI report from the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Identification to confirm the record matches your recollection. Errors in BCI records are more common than people expect and must be corrected before filing.

Step 2: Obtain Certified Copies of Your Record

You will need certified copies of your court documents — the original charge, the judgment of conviction, and proof of sentence completion including probation discharge. Request these from the Superior Court clerk’s office in the county where your case was heard. Allow adequate lead time; these requests are not instant.

Step 3: File the Motion to Expunge

The petition must include your personal information, a complete description of the conviction, proof of eligibility, and a certification that you meet all statutory requirements. It is filed with the Superior Court clerk. The court charges no filing fee — under § 12-1.3-3(c), as amended by P.L. 2021, ch. 141/142 (effective July 3, 2021), there is no filing fee for any expungement petition under Chapter 12-1.3. Pre-filing administrative costs (BCI, certified records, postage) typically run $25–$80. See our guide to expungement costs in Rhode Island for the full breakdown.

Step 4: Serve the Attorney General and Law Enforcement

Rhode Island law requires that you serve a copy of your petition on the Attorney General’s Office and any law enforcement agency that maintains records of your arrest. The AG’s Office reviews every felony petition and has thirty days to file an objection. In most non-violent felony cases without aggravating circumstances, the AG does not object — but you must be prepared to respond if they do.

Step 5: Attend the Hearing

A judge reviews the petition, considers any objection from the AG’s Office, and hears argument. In straightforward cases, hearings are brief. If the AG objects — or if there is any factual question about eligibility — you need experienced counsel to argue your case. Marin & Murphy represents clients at expungement hearings throughout Rhode Island Superior Court.

Step 6: The Order Is Issued

If the judge grants the petition, an expungement order is issued and served on all custodians of the record — the court, the AG’s Office, and law enforcement agencies. The records are then destroyed or sealed per the order. Background-check services typically reflect the expungement within 30 to 90 days, though this varies by provider.

What Happens After Your Felony Is Expunged?

Once the Rhode Island court issues an expungement order for your felony conviction, the practical effects are significant:

• Standard employer background checks no longer show the conviction
• Landlords and tenant-screening services do not find it
• You can legally answer “no” to questions about prior felony convictions on most job, housing, and licensing applications
• Professional licensing boards generally cannot use the expunged offense against you

There are limits worth understanding. Certain federal agencies, some law enforcement licensing bodies, and immigration authorities may retain access under narrow circumstances. If you are a non-citizen, discuss the interaction between expungement and your immigration status with an attorney before filing — the intersection is complex and the stakes are high.

Federal Firearms Rights — Read This Carefully

Rhode Island expungement may restore your state-level right to possess firearms, subject to interpretation of R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-47-5 and the firearm-prohibition list at § 11-47-2. Federal law operates independently. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), a state expungement does not automatically restore federal firearms rights if the underlying conviction qualifies as a felony under federal law. The federal restoration analysis is fact-specific and turns on the underlying offense and on how the expungement was granted under state law.

This is one of the most misunderstood consequences of felony expungement. Do not assume your firearms rights are fully restored after a state expungement — discuss firearm restoration with an attorney before relying on the expungement to clear federal disability.

Why Felony Expungement Requires an Experienced Attorney

Misdemeanor expungements are relatively straightforward. Felony expungements are not. The stakes are higher, the AG’s Office reviews every petition, and an objection turns the hearing into contested litigation in front of a Superior Court judge.

An experienced Rhode Island expungement attorney can help you navigate:

• Eligibility verification — determining whether your specific conviction is on the closed § 12-1.3-1(1) crime-of-violence list, and confirming this is truly your only felony
• § 12-1.3-1(5) reclassification framing — for pre-2021 simple drug felonies and pre-2012 larceny felonies, arguing the misdemeanor reclassification path with its five-year wait
• Sentence-completion confirmation — calculating the precise date your ten-year clock started and building the evidentiary record that proves it
• Petition preparation — ensuring every required document is properly assembled, formatted, and served to avoid procedural denial
• AG’s Office response — preparing for and, if necessary, arguing against an objection at the hearing
• Post-grant compliance — confirming records are actually destroyed and background-check services have updated

Marin & Murphy’s Track Record on Rhode Island Record-Clearing Law

Marin & Murphy’s track record on Rhode Island record-clearing law is unusual. Matthew T. Marin was counsel of record in State ex rel. Coventry Police Department v. Charlwood, 224 A.3d 480 (R.I. 2020), the unanimous Rhode Island Supreme Court decision that expanded record-sealing eligibility under § 12-1-12 — the sealing companion to the expungement statute this page covers.

Stefanie A. Murphy is the editor and co-author of A Practical Guide to Trying DUI Cases in Rhode Island (MCLE New England, 2nd Ed. 2024). The firm has handled expungements under every path in Chapter 12-1.3 — first-offender, multi-misdemeanor, deferred-sentence, decriminalized-offense, § 12-1.3-1(5) reclassification, and § 12-1.3-5 marijuana auto-expungement — for nearly twenty years. Our Providence office has 451 five-star Google reviews and a 5.0 rating.

A denied petition can delay your next attempt by years. This is not a process to navigate alone.

Call (401) 228-8271 or contact Marin & Murphy online for a free consultation. There is no obligation to hire after your first call.

To understand the full picture before deciding, also read our guides on Rhode Island expungement eligibility, misdemeanor expungement in Rhode Island, how the Rhode Island expungement process works, and how much expungement costs in Rhode Island.

More on Rhode Island expungement: Rhode Island Expungement Lawyer (Hub) · Rhode Island Expungement Eligibility · Misdemeanor Expungement in Rhode Island · How the Rhode Island Expungement Process Works · Rhode Island Expungement Cost · Rhode Island DUI Expungement