VC 23152 Wobbler

Clearing a California DUI conviction

A DUI dismissal is real and it is worth having. It is also the charge where the gap between what people expect and what the law delivers is widest, so this page leads with the limits.

What makes this charge different

• Relief is discretionary rather than mandatory, because DUI falls inside the carve-out at Penal Code 1203.4(c)(1)
• The Vehicle Code says expressly that a dismissal does not affect a licence suspension or revocation
• The conviction still counts as a prior for sentencing and licence purposes for ten years
• Commercial driver's licence holders cannot have it masked at all under federal law

What this charge is

Vehicle Code 23152 covers driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.08% or more. A first offence is almost always a misdemeanour. It becomes a felony where there is a fourth offence within ten years, a prior felony DUI, or injury to someone else — which is charged under section 23153 instead.

Felony or misdemeanour?

Most DUI convictions are misdemeanours, and a misdemeanour DUI is dismissed under the ordinary statute once probation ends. A felony DUI is harder and depends on how the sentence was served.

Which relief applies

A completed-probation DUI goes under Penal Code 1203.4. The important difference from, say, a petty theft is that DUI sits in the discretionary part of the statute: the court grants it in the interests of justice rather than being required to. In practice these are granted regularly, and what you have done since matters.

The thing to watch out for

Three things survive the dismissal. Your DMV record keeps the conviction, because the Vehicle Code says a dismissal does not affect any suspension or revocation of your driving privilege. The conviction still counts as a prior if you are charged with another DUI within ten years, and the court may not strike it to avoid the minimum sentence. And insurers price from the DMV record, so a dismissal does not oblige anyone to re-rate you.

What a dismissal is genuinely good for

Employment, mostly, and it is a real benefit. A California employer with five or more employees may not ask about or consider a conviction that has been dismissed. For a great many people the DUI is the only thing standing between them and a job, and the DMV consequences are irrelevant to that.

Licensing is the other one. A board may not deny a licence based on a conviction dismissed under section 1203.4, although you have to be able to prove the dismissal if it does not show on the Department of Justice report.

The law that applies

• Expungement (PC 1203.4) — The court lets you withdraw your plea or sets aside the verdict, then dismisses the case, which releases you from most of the penalties of the conviction.

Our flat fee for a case like this is $699, all in, with the court filing fee included. What that covers.

Legal information on this page was last checked against primary sources in October 2026. California law changes; if you are reading this long after that date, confirm before you rely on it.