How it works in Maryland

The steps

1. Get fingerprinted

   Have your fingerprints taken at the CJIS storefront in Baltimore (walk-in), at a CJIS office in a Motor Vehicle Administration building (by appointment), or at an authorized private or government-operated provider from the DPSCS list; bring government-issued photo ID, and at CJIS pay by card — cash, checks and money orders are not accepted.

   Cost: $20.00 — the DPSCS CJIS fingerprint service fee; a private provider may add its own service fee, so check its price first

2. Request your record

   Complete and submit your application to request an official copy of your criminal history record from the Maryland Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services.

   Record request fee: $18.00 — State background check only, mail-in; $38.00 in person, which already includes the $20.00 CJIS fingerprint service fee. The full state and FBI check is $33.00 mail-in / $53.00 in person and marked for authorized agencies only; the FBI's share rises $3 on national checks from October 1, 2026 (the page's notice).

3. Review your record

   Confirm there is no disqualifying information in your history. If there is something incorrect, follow the process to challenge the issue. If everything is accurate, make a copy for your file and keep the original somewhere safe.

4. Request certified documents

   Collect certified copies of relevant documents. These include a copy of the disposition of the case from the clerk of court that handled the original case and the arrest record from the arresting agency. If you had probation or parole, had to take classes, had to pay fees, or had any other obligations, you also need certified proof that you completed those requirements.

   Certified copy fee: $5.00 — A $5 certification fee plus 50 cents per page copied (triple seal $10 plus 50 cents per page); Montgomery County's own figure, not a statewide schedule

5. Verify the final documents

   Review each document for accuracy. Confirm each one is certified and clearly shows you completed your obligations. Make copies of every original.

6. Prepare your petition

   Complete the petition based on the type of charge and outcome you are seeking, and check the wait that applies. Under Md. Code Ann., Crim. Proc. § 10-105, a petition based on an acquittal, a nolle prosequi or a dismissal waits three years after the disposition, unless you file with it a written general waiver and release of your tort claims arising from the charge; one based on a probation before judgment, or on a stet with a treatment requirement, waits until the later of your discharge and three years (fifteen years for a probation before judgment under Transportation Article section 21-902(a) or (b)); one based on a stet or a compromise waits three years; one based on a conviction for possession of cannabis waits only until you finish your sentence; one based on a pardon must be filed within ten years of it. Under Crim. Proc. § 10-110, a listed conviction waits five years after you finish your sentence — seven for a felony, for common law battery or for a violation of Crim. Law section 3-203; ten for a conviction under Crim. Law section 6-202(a) or 6-203 or a felony under its section 7-104; fifteen for a domestically related crime; three for possession with intent to distribute cannabis. Finishing a sentence includes any probation, parole or mandatory supervision. A new conviction during the wait, or a pending criminal case, blocks the petition, and if one conviction in a unit is not eligible, none in the unit is; a court may grant a petition under Crim. Proc. § 10-105 at any time for good cause.

7. Finalize your petition

   Take the completed petition from Step 6, the documents collected in Step 4, and the background check from Step 2, and put them together in a complete package. Double-check every file in the package is the original and ensure you have a copy of the complete package for your personal file.

8. File your expungement petition

   File the petition in the court where the case began. If the case was transferred to another court, file in that court; if it was transferred to the juvenile court, file in the court that transferred it. If the case was appealed, file in the appellate court, which may send the matter back to the original court.

   Filing fee: $30.00 — For a petition based on a guilty disposition, per case (not per charge in a unit), nonrefundable even if denied; no charge for a petition based on an acquittal, dismissal, probation before judgment, nolle prosequi, stet or not criminally responsible disposition; the court may waive the fee for someone who cannot afford it; no filing fee for a shielding petition.

9. Work with the court

   After you file, the court serves a copy of the petition on the State's Attorney, who has 30 days to object. For a conviction under Crim. Proc. § 10-110, the court also sends written notice to each listed victim, who may object or offer more information; for a shielding petition under Crim. Proc. § 10-303, the listed victims get the same notice. If no objection is filed in those 30 days, the court orders the expungement without a hearing — for shielding, it may order it after weighing anything the State's Attorney or a victim sent in. If a timely objection is filed, the court holds a hearing: watch for the notice and respond promptly to anything the court asks for.

10. Receive the court's order

    Once the judge rules, the court issues a written order granting or denying your petition. Review the order's terms carefully — they spell out exactly which records are covered. An expungement order removes the records from public inspection, by obliteration or by moving them to a secure area that only people with a legitimate reason can reach; a shielding order makes the records of the conviction inaccessible to the public, but the law keeps them open to criminal justice units, to employers and licensing agencies that must or may check a criminal background, to you and your attorney, and to the other parties it lists. Keep a certified copy for your own files.

11. Verify the record is cleared

    Under Md. Code Ann., Crim. Proc. § 10-105 and Crim. Proc. § 10-110, every custodian of the police records and court records the order covers — the clerk of the court, each law enforcement unit that holds a record, any booking facility and the Central Repository at the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services — must comply with the order and, within 60 days of its entry unless the order is stayed on appeal, advise you and the court in writing that it has. If a background-check provider later produces an outdated report, your certified copy of the court's order is your authoritative reference. Confirm with the clerk of court and the arresting agency that their records reflect the order as well. For a shielded conviction, Maryland Judiciary Case Search may not refer to the record in any way.

If you have to mail anything, remember to keep a copy of whatever you send and to use a method with a tracking number like the USPS Flat Rate Envelope.