This bill amends RCW 9.96.060 to create a detailed process for vacating certain convictions, including convictions for driving under the influence, actual physical control while under the influence, and offenses treated as prior offenses to those convictions. It specifies how a court effectuates a vacation (for example, allowing withdrawal of a guilty plea and entry of not guilty or setting aside a guilty verdict, dismissing the charging document, and vacating the judgment and sentence), and it sets eligibility rules and when vacation must or may be granted for misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor convictions. The amendment creates a mixture of mandatory and discretionary relief with numerous specific bars and time thresholds: vacation is barred if sentence terms or financial obligations are not complete, if there are pending charges, for violent offenses and certain sex offenses or registration requirements, and under specified domestic violence conditions. For DUI-related convictions the bill adds particular lookback and timing limits, commercial driver-related limits, and driver’s license eligibility requirements. The bill includes specific provisions that misdemeanor cannabis convictions (for persons 21 or older at the time of offense) must be vacated, that certain pre‑1975 fishing convictions may be applied for by family or tribal representatives if the person is deceased, and that courts must vacate after verified completion and compliance with substance use disorder programs or diversion programs. It also allows a prosecutor to file a petition on behalf of the state for certain victim applicants and describes the prosecutor’s role as administrative. Vacated convictions generally remove penalties and disabilities and can be treated as if the person was never convicted for most purposes, but RCW 9.41.041 firearm restoration rules are not affected; there are also limits on use of vacated domestic violence convictions in later prosecutions, with part of that provision truncated in the available text. The bill sets record-handling procedures and exceptions: clerks must immediately send vacation orders to the Washington State Patrol and local agencies, those agencies must update records and transmit the order to the FBI, and vacated records may not be disclosed except to criminal justice agencies. Vacated DUI-related convictions may still qualify as prior convictions in specified recidivist or sentencing contexts: a vacated conviction on or after July 28, 2019 can count as a prior conviction for present recidivist charging for offenses on or after that date; a vacated conviction under the DUI provisions may be used as a "prior offense" in later RCW 46.61.502/46.61.504 prosecutions if the later prosecution is within 15 years of the vacated conviction date and may be used in sentencing or felony determination; the Department of Licensing may consider such vacated convictions for administrative requirements and must remove the conviction from a driving record upon notice if administrative requirements are met. The act takes effect July 1, 2026. The provided text is incomplete in places (for example subsection (8)(b) is truncated and some statutory edits show strike-throughs), so precise final statutory wording and any additional provisions in omitted sections are not available here.

If enacted, more people with prior misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor DUI/actual physical control convictions and certain related prior-offense records — and adults convicted of misdemeanor cannabis offenses at age 21 or older — will be able to have those convictions vacated, which in practice can remove many collateral penalties and let them truthfully say they were not convicted for most civilian purposes. Courts will handle new eligibility rules and must vacate in some treatment-completion situations; prosecutors may file petitions for victims but act in an administrative role; recovery and diversion programs are specifically tied to mandatory vacation when participants meet treatment and compliance benchmarks. At the same time, vacated DUI-related convictions can still be counted as prior offenses in later DUI prosecutions or to enhance sentencing or felony status in certain circumstances (including within 15 years for some offenses and for recidivist charging tied to July 28, 2019), and the Department of Licensing may still consider vacated DUI convictions for administrative licensing requirements. Practically this shifts work and modest costs onto courts, clerks, prosecuting offices, the Washington State Patrol, local police agencies, and the Department of Licensing, which must immediately update records, send vacation orders to the WSP, local agencies, and the FBI, and remove convictions from driving records when administrative requirements are met; the state must also restrict public disclosure of vacated records to criminal justice agencies. The law takes effect July 1, 2026. The text provided is incomplete in places (some definitions, the full list of exceptions, and the remainder of one subsection are missing), so exact eligibility limits and some procedural details remain uncertain.