Will a DUI Show Up on a Background Check in Arizona? ARS 13-911

Will a DUI Show Up on a Background Check in Arizona?

Yes. An Arizona DUI conviction appears on a criminal background check for as long as the record exists, and Arizona has no automatic expiration: the conviction stays in the court’s file, in the Department of Public Safety’s central repository under A.R.S. § 41-1750, and in the commercial databases that pull from both, until a court orders the records sealed under A.R.S. § 13-911. A ten-year-old DUI shows up. A twenty-year-old DUI shows up. What changes over time is not whether the record exists but what a particular screener is allowed to report and what you are allowed to say about it.

The DUI itself is a Class 1 misdemeanor under A.R.S. § 28-1381 (extreme DUI under A.R.S. § 28-1382 is the same class), and a felony if charged as aggravated DUI under A.R.S. § 28-1383. Both kinds appear. So do the things around the conviction: the arrest, the charge, and the disposition, because each is a separate record held by a separate agency.

Where a DUI Lives, and Who Can See It

Does a 10-Year-Old DUI Still Show Up?

On a criminal background check, yes, unless it has been sealed. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681c, bars consumer reporting agencies from reporting arrests and other adverse non-conviction information older than seven years, but it expressly exempts records of convictions from any time limit. A commercial screener may therefore report a decade-old DUI conviction, and Arizona law does not add a state-level cutoff. On the driving side, ADOT’s records are limited to three years (uncertified) and five years (certified) per ADOT’s motor vehicle records page, so an old DUI drops off the MVD printout, but the conviction remains in the court and DPS systems, and for sentencing purposes a prior DUI counts for 84 months under A.R.S. § 28-1381(K).

What If I Was Arrested but Not Convicted?

The arrest is still a record. A DUI arrest that ended in dismissal, acquittal, or no charges at all remains in the court file (if a case was opened), in the DPS repository (from the booking fingerprints), and in commercial databases, where 15 U.S.C. § 1681c limits reporting to seven years. Arizona’s answer is the same statute that handles convictions: A.R.S. § 13-911(A) allows a petition to seal records where the charge was dismissed or resulted in a not-guilty verdict, and where a person was arrested and no charges were filed. For a dismissed or uncharged DUI arrest there is no waiting period tied to a sentence, because there was no sentence. Our guide to being arrested for DUI without charges covers the pre-charge window itself.

How Sealing Changes the Answer

Sealing is the only mechanism in Arizona law that removes a DUI from public background checks. Under A.R.S. § 13-911(E), a person convicted of a Class 1 misdemeanor DUI may petition to seal after completing all non-monetary terms of the sentence and waiting three years from discharge; a Class 4 felony aggravated DUI requires five years. The petition goes to the court of conviction, the prosecutor and any victim get notice, and the court decides whether sealing is in the best interests of the petitioner and public safety. Once sealed, the statute allows the person to state “in all instances” that they were never arrested for, charged with, or convicted of the offense, including on employment and housing applications, with listed exceptions: among them fingerprint clearance card applications, certain sensitive employment, and, for DUI records specifically, exception (f), which applies when the person is applying for a job involving the commercial or private operation of a motor vehicle, boat, or airplane. Sealed DUI records also remain usable by the State to enhance a later DUI under A.R.S. § 13-911(B)(5). Our record-sealing guide walks through the petition; the set-aside and background checks post explains why a set-aside alone does not do this.

What Employers and Licensing Boards Actually See

• Private employers using a commercial screener see the conviction indefinitely and any arrest for seven years, subject to FCRA notice and dispute rights.
• Employers of drivers and insurers pull the MVD record, where a DUI appears on the three- or five-year history and can affect insurability and commercial driving eligibility.
• State licensing boards and fingerprint clearance query the DPS repository directly, which sealing does not fully close for those purposes.
• Federal background checks (security clearances, immigration, firearms) draw on FBI records fed by the state, where a state sealing order has limited reach.

How Tamou Law Group Handles DUI Records

On an open case, the record is the first thing we protect: a dismissal, a reckless-driving resolution, or an acquittal leaves a very different background check than a conviction, and a first-offense DUI resolved without a conviction can be sealed without a waiting period. On a closed case, we evaluate sealing eligibility under 13-911 and set-aside relief under 13-905, prepare the petition and the response to any objection, and coordinate the DPS and MVD records so what a screener sees matches what the court ordered. Members of the National College for DUI Defense, in every Maricopa County court.

Related guides: sealing an Arizona criminal record, does a set-aside show on a background check, reducing a DUI to reckless driving, and our Arizona DUI charges hub. Call 623-321-4699, 24/7.