Once someone is arrested for a DUI offense, it goes on their criminal record. An arrest record might be made available to the public in Mecklenburg County or in Virginia any time an adult is arrested for DUI. A copy of that arrest warrant is filed in the clerk’s office of the general district court and that record would be publicly available.
DUI arrest records in Mecklenburg County could be found in an online search of the general district court website. However, it is rare for those records to be published beyond existing in the court file. If an individual wants to know more about what they can do about their arrest record, they should consult a qualified DUI attorney that could discuss their options with them.
These records are stored in the clerk’s office of the general district court. They would only be published if someone in the media had an interest in publishing them and searched for those records in the clerk’s office of the court.
There are consequences of having a public arrest record. For many people, having a public arrest record is not something that anyone else is made aware of beyond who the individual chooses to share it with. However, public arrest record would show up on any background check and would not go away from their record unless they are found not guilty and go through the necessary steps to have their record expunged.
In some circumstances, mug shots might be made available to the public in Mecklenburg County. There are some publications, like Crime Times, that obtain mug shots in the publicly available records for a fee. If somebody wants to prevent their mug shot from being published in their publication, it is jurisdiction dependent. Not every jurisdiction has publications like that, but there is always a risk of the mug shot being made publicly available.
Some options available to deal with DUI arrest records in Mecklenburg County include contacting an attorney to review all of the possible options available. Dealing with an arrest record depends on the circumstances of each arrest and is case specific.
In certain circumstances, it might be possible for arrest records to be sealed. However, that determination has to be made by the judge and has to be supported by the law. It is a fact-specific request and somebody should contact an attorney if they wish to have their arrest record sealed.
The difference between record sealing and expungement is that record sealing means that an otherwise publicly available record could only be viewed by an order of the court that allows access to the sealed record to the individual seeking access.
An expunged record being sealed means all evidence of the public arrest is removed from the public record. That could only be done via a specific process in the court, which includes a finding of not guilty or the choice by prosecutors to not prosecute the case. If someone is acquitted of their DUI, their arrest record would remain public and, on their record, unless they go through the process of having the arrest record expunged. If an individual wants to know more about how expungement and record sealing could mitigate the impact of DUI arrest records in Mecklenburg County, they should seek the services of a knowledgeable attorney who could help.