Months after Huntsville City Councilman Will Culver was arrested on charges of driving under the influence, his case has been expunged, or legally erased, according to court records.

“That is not something I can discuss,” Culver said via phone when asked about the status of his case. He referred questions to his attorney George Flowers, who didn’t return calls for comment.

The expungement eliminates his arrest from essentially all public records, including removing his mugshot from the Madison County jail website.

An expungement erases the public record of an arrest, essentially meaning, it’s like the case never happened.

Culver was booked into the Madison County jail shortly before 2:30 a.m. on April 22, 2018. He was charged with DUI, driving on the wrong side of the road, failure to signal and improper lane usage. The arrest happened after midnight that Sunday morning on Oakwood Avenue, just east of Alabama 53, according to a police report obtained by AL.com months before the expungement was granted.

The expungement order was signed Dec. 28, 2018 by retired Madison County Circuit Judge William D. Page, who routinely handles local expungement cases.

Culver, a 58-year-old councilman, is a former Huntsville police officer and chief city magistrate.

In a Facebook comment written shortly after his arrest, Culver said, “…it is certainly more to this than on the surface. Will keep you posted.”

The expungement prevents the city from releasing the full police report, which includes a narrative of what happened during the arrest and what Culver was accused of doing.

Culver was first elected to the City Council in 2008 and served as council president for a year in 2015-16. He represents District 5, which includes west Huntsville and extends along Interstate 565 into Limestone County.

‘No such record exists’

This past week, AL.com requested from Huntsville Municipal Court an update on the status of the case. On Thursday, a court worker said she couldn’t find information about the case. In response to a public records request, court officials said the case doesn’t exist.

“Unfortunately, no such record exists in Municipal Court at this time,” court officials wrote in an email to AL.com. “The case to which you are referring does not exist.”

Officials said they couldn’t provide any other information.

AL.com on Tuesday obtained a copy of the expungement order, which was included in a publicly-available court motion filed by Culver’s attorney.

The order said, in part, “It is ordered by the Court that the arrest records, charge records, incident records, booking and arrest photographs, fingerprint records and index references such as the State Judicial Information System or any other governmental index references for public records, and the other data whether in documentary or electronic form be expunged…”

Because of Culver’s position, Huntsville Municipal Court Presiding Judge Lonzo Robinson recused all city judges from the case. The case was assigned to Athens Judge Don Mansell.

Athens attorney Edward Alley was appointed as special prosecutor. He didn’t return a call for comment.

The case was initially set for trial in September 2018 before being continued, or delayed, to Jan. 25, 2019.

To qualify for an expungement in Alabama, an arrestee’s case has to be dismissed, acquitted or “no-billed” by a grand jury. A “no-bill” means the grand jury didn’t find probable cause for charges against a defendant. Convictions cannot be expunged in Alabama.

If a misdemeanor case is dismissed with prejudice — meaning it can’t be brought back to court — a defendant can immediately apply for expungement. If a misdemeanor case is dismissed without prejudice—meaning it could be brought back to court — a defendant must wait two years to apply for expungement. The requirements are different for felony cases that are eligible for expungement.