Short answer: forever.
Longer answer: for insurance purposes it may be shorter. If you get an expungement of your Minnesota DWI, then it can be on your record for less time. For enhancement purposes, it is a ten-year time frame in Minnesota.
Every insurance company is different. How the company treats even one DWI can vary from insurance company to insurance company. Some are incredible strict and will drop you from coverage after one DWI arrest. Some will not even change your insurance rates at all. The same level of variation can occur for how long an insurance company will use the DWI against you. Insurance companies generally look at your driving record, which will reflect a DWI forever unless you get an expungement.
If you were convicted of a DWI, then you will need to wait a certain length of time before you are statutorily eligible for an expungement. On Fourth Degree Misdemeanor DWI, you need to wait until after two years have passed your discharge from probation to be eligible for a statutory expungement. On Second and Third Degree Gross Misdemeanor DWI, you need to wait four years after being discharged from probation before you are eligible for a statutory expungement. Currently, felony DWIs are not statutorily eligible for an expungement in Minnesota. Some prosecutors may fight back against expunging a DWI, especially if the DWI is still within the ten-year period of enhancement. While district court judges are not supposed to use the enhancement period to deny an expungement request, they may use other reasons to come the result they desire.
The more DWIs a person gets in a ten-year period, the more severe they can become. Each prior DWI conviction, or driver’s license revocation related to the DWI, within a ten-year period is an aggravating factor. Four DWIs in ten years can result in a felony charge. Two or three DWIs in ten years is a gross misdemeanor. One DWI in ten years is a misdemeanor. If you have a DWI over ten years old, then prosecutors should not be using that DWI to make the current one more severe, unless the prior is a felony DWI. A prior felony DWI will result in all future DWIs to be charged as a felony. Importantly, if your MN DWI was dismissed or resulted in Careless Driving or some other resolution in criminal court, then be mindful of whether a license revocation stemming from the incident is on your record. If so, that license revocation can be used just the same as a prior DWI conviction for enhancement purposes. Also, insurance companies may treat license revocations just the same as DWI convictions.
Contact Us Today if you are in need of a Minnesota DWI attorney. Our Minneapolis lawyers have the experience necessary to help you with your case.