Title 19.2. Criminal Procedure
Chapter 23.2. Sealing of Criminal History Record Information and Court Records
§ 19.2-392.17. (For contingent effective date see Acts 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 524 and 542) Traffic infractions deemed sealed.
A. Any record of a traffic infraction under Title 46.2 that is not punishable as a criminal offense shall be deemed to be sealed after 11 years from the date of final disposition of the offense, unless such sealing is prohibited under federal or state law. No record of any such traffic infraction shall be disseminated, unless such dissemination is authorized pursuant to § 19.2-392.13 and pursuant to the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to § 9.1-128 and the procedures adopted pursuant to § 9.1-134.
B. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall not seal any traffic infraction under Title 46.2 (i) in violation of federal regulatory record retention requirements or (ii) in violation of federal program requirements if the Department of Motor Vehicles is required to suspend a person's driving privileges as a result of the traffic infraction that was ordered to be sealed. Upon receipt of an order directing that a traffic infraction be sealed, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall seal all records if the federal regulatory record retention period has run and all federal program requirements associated with a suspension have been satisfied. However, if the Department of Motor Vehicles cannot seal a traffic infraction pursuant to this subsection at the time it is ordered, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall (a) notify the Department of State Police of the reason the record cannot be sealed and cite the authority prohibiting sealing at the time it is ordered; (b) notify the Department of State Police of the date, if known at the time when the sealing is ordered, on which such record can be sealed; (c) seal such record on that date; and (d) notify the Department of State Police when such record has been sealed within the Department of Motor Vehicles' records.
C. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall not seal a record of a traffic infraction if a customer is subject to an administrative suspension order issued pursuant to Driver Improvement Program requirements under § 46.2-498, 46.2-499, or 46.2-506, issued in part or in whole, as a result of an accumulation of traffic infractions, and less than two years has passed since the date that the suspension order was complied with.
