If a DUI entry on your California DMV record is wrong, start with the court that handled the case. DMV says it cannot correct conviction information without a document from that court, which you send with DMV’s Driver License Record Correction Request (form DL 207). An accurate DUI conviction is not a record error, and this process will not remove it.
Where the DMV entry comes from
DMV does not decide on its own that a DUI happened. When a California court convicts someone of DUI or another reportable Vehicle Code violation, the court clerk must prepare an abstract of the court record within five days after the conviction and immediately forward it to DMV. If sentencing comes later, the abstract goes to DMV within five days after sentencing, certified by the person who prepared it as true and correct (Vehicle Code section 1803(a)(1)). A bail forfeiture counts as a conviction for this purpose (section 1803(a)(2)).
Two other court orders also reach DMV this way. Within five days of an order revoking or terminating DUI probation under Vehicle Code section 23602, which applies when the court finds you violated a probation term, the clerk must send DMV an abstract of that order (section 1803(d)). And when a court rules that a prior DUI conviction is valid, or invalid on constitutional grounds, under Vehicle Code section 41403, the clerk abstracts that ruling too (section 1803(c)). As DMV’s own records page puts it, DMV “receives conviction information from the courts” (DMV Records Requests).
How long DMV reports it
Vehicle Code section 1808(b) ties the reporting period for convictions to the date of the occurrence:
- 10 years for a violation of Vehicle Code section 23140 (the under-21 blood-alcohol rule), 23152, or 23153 (DUI).
- 7 years for other violations designated as two points under Vehicle Code section 12810.
- 3 years for accidents and all other violations.
Suspensions and revocations are reported while they are in effect and for three years after the action ends or the privilege is reinstated; a few listed kinds of suspension are reported only while in effect (section 1808(c)). DMV may not disclose a suspension or revocation that a court has set aside or stayed (section 1808(d)). Courts and law enforcement are treated separately: DMV must make DUI convictions, and a reckless driving conviction under Vehicle Code section 23103 as specified in section 23103.5 (often called a wet reckless), available to them for 10 years from the date of the offense so they can impose penalties the law requires (section 1808(f)).
DMV’s online record page confirms that current driver records “include only reportable information as required by” section 1808, and says DUI convictions are reported for 10 years for noncommercial drivers; it lists longer periods for some commercial-driver violations (DMV driver’s record request). A DUI still reported more than 10 years after the offense date, or a suspension still reported more than three years after it ended, is worth raising with DMV. That is a question about what DMV reports, not about whether the conviction happened or whether it counts for other purposes.
Telling a record error from a conviction you dislike
A record error is a mismatch between what the court did and what DMV shows: the wrong code section or date, a duplicate entry, someone else’s case, a probation revocation the court never ordered, a suspension a court set aside or stayed, or an entry still reported after the periods above. An accurate conviction is not an error, including one that came from a plea to a reduced charge you now regret.
DL 207 itself draws this line. It asks you to list violations you are disputing under the statement “I did not receive, or I was not convicted of,” and to sign under penalty of perjury (DL 207). Whether a conviction is legally valid is decided in court, not by DMV; the section 41403 ruling described above is one example of a court decision that is then reported to DMV.
How to request a correction
- Get your current record. DMV lets you request your own driver record online through a MyDMV account, at a DMV kiosk, by phone, or by mail with form INF 1125 (see the DMV pages linked above).
- Compare it with your court papers. Check the code section, the violation and conviction dates, and any probation orders against your minute order or other court documents.
- Contact the convicting court’s clerk. DMV’s form states that DMV “will be unable to correct any traffic violation/conviction information on your driver record without the appropriate documents prepared by the court.” It names a Court Abstract/Document Error form (DL 157) or an original signed or certified letter from the court on official letterhead, and notes that corrected or amended court abstracts reach DMV electronically.
- Send DL 207 with the court document to DMV’s Mandatory Actions Unit at the address printed on the form, and allow four to six weeks for a response. An error in an accident entry uses a different form, DL 208.
- Keep copies of everything you send and receive.
A data error and an accurate but unwelcome conviction call for different responses, and mixing them up can cost time if a license or DUI license reinstatement deadline is running. The Law Offices of David S. Chesley can compare your DMV record with your court file and help you decide which situation you are in. Call (800) 755-5174 to discuss your record.