Virginia Law

A. Except as provided in subsection F of § 19.2-392.13, any record of a traffic infraction under Title 46.2 with an offense date on or after January 1, 1986, 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. The Central Criminal Records Exchange, any court, any police department, sheriff's office, or campus police department, and the Department of Motor Vehicles shall identify and seal the records of any such infraction in its possession. 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 deemed sealed pursuant to subsection A. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall seal all records deemed to be sealed pursuant to subsection A if the federal regulatory record retention period has run and all federal program requirements associated with a suspension have been satisfied.

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.

2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 524, 542; 2025, cc. 634, 671.