Rhode Island expungement costs include court filing fees (varies by jurisdiction), fees for the BCI background check report, and optional legal fees if you hire a lawyer. Self-filed expungement petitions typically run a few hundred dollars in court and BCI fees. Hiring a lawyer adds professional fees but significantly improves your chance of approval, especially for felony or DUI petitions where the Attorney General frequently objects. Given that a denied petition forces you to wait at least one year to refile, the investment in legal counsel often pays for itself by avoiding procedural denial.
