New Maryland laws take effect on October 1, 2023! We will be publishing a series of posts highlighting a few of the newly enacted laws. This series is just a small sampling of the new laws enacted by the 2023 Legislative Session. To read about more laws resulting from the 2023 session, see the list of new laws published by the Department of Legislative Services (DLS) of the General Assembly of Maryland. For a full listing of new laws effective October 1, 2023, check out the List of Laws effective on October 1, 2023 from DLS.
Note that all quotations, unless noted otherwise, are attributable to the 90 Day Report – A Review of the 2023 Session published by the Department of Legislative Services of the General Assembly of Maryland, which is available online. In addition, by visiting the link for specific legislation, you can view documents at the “Witness List” link for each bill that argue for and against that legislation.
Expungement
Section 10‐110 of the Criminal Procedure Article authorizes an individual convicted of any of a list of approximately 100 specified offenses or an attempt, a conspiracy, or a solicitation of any of these offenses, to file a petition for expungement of the conviction, subject to specified procedures and requirements.
Senate Bill 37 shortens some of the waiting periods for filing a petition to expunge records related to a conviction eligible for expungement under § 10-110 of the Criminal Procedure Article. The bill establishes the following new waiting periods for filing an expungement petition following the petitioner’s satisfaction of the sentence(s) imposed for all convictions for which expungement is sought, including parole, probation, or mandatory supervision: 5 years for a listed misdemeanor in general (instead of 10 years); 7 years for a listed felony in general (instead of 15 years); 7 years for second-degree assault under § 3-203 of the Criminal Law Article or common law battery (instead of 15 years); and 10 years for first-degree burglary under § 6-202(a) of the Criminal Law Article, second-degree burglary under § 6-203 of the Criminal Law Article, or felony theft under § 7-104 of the Criminal Law Article (instead of 15 years). The bill also adds the malicious destruction of property (§ 6‐301 of the Criminal Law Article) to the list of misdemeanors that can be expunged after 5 years. Finally, the bill provides that any unpaid court fees or costs are not a bar to expungement and requires that, when ordering or effecting an expungement, a court must waive any court fees and costs associated with the charge being expunged. Existing waiting periods for offenses classified as domestically related crimes (15 years) and possession to distribute cannabis under § 5‐602(b)(1) of the Criminal Law Article (3 years) are unchanged in the bill.
House Bill 1175 (passed) also expands eligibility for expungement under § 10-110 of the Criminal Procedure Article to include convictions for specified misdemeanor hunting‐related offenses, such as hunting without a valid hunting license or failing to wear fluorescent clothing while hunting.
Motion to Vacate
A person convicted of a “qualifying offense,” as designated in statute, may file a motion to vacate the judgment if the person’s participation in the offense was a direct result of being a victim of human trafficking. Specific procedural requirements apply to these motions, and a conviction that has been vacated under these provisions may not be considered a conviction for any purpose. A person who was convicted of a crime and had the conviction vacated under these circumstances is eligible to file a petition to expunge records regarding the vacated conviction, as specified in statute.
Senate Bill 292/House Bill 297 add the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle (under §14‐102 of the Transportation Article) and soliciting or offering to solicit prostitution or assignation (under § 11‐306 of the Criminal Law Article) to the list of qualifying offenses.
AACPLL Blog: Law Library News 