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SB0320 • 2026

Criminal Procedure - Expungement - No Finding and Case Terminated Without Finding

Criminal Procedure - Expungement - No Finding and Case Terminated Without Finding

Crime
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Senator Muse
Last action
2026-05-12
Official status
Approved by the Governor - Chapter 465
Effective date
2026-10-01

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on the process of filing an expungement request under these new rules, leaving some uncertainty about how individuals will apply for expungement.

Expungement for Cases Without a Finding

This law allows people to file a petition with the court to expunge certain criminal records if their case was dismissed or ended without a guilty finding.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows individuals to file a petition for expungement of specific criminal records if their case was disposed of by the court with a no-finding designation or designated as terminated without a finding.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People who have criminal records and whose cases were dismissed or ended without a guilty finding can now ask the court to remove those records.
  • Courts will need to follow new rules when deciding if someone's criminal record should be expunged based on whether their case was dismissed or terminated without a finding.

Terms To Know

Expungement
The process of removing or destroying a criminal record so it cannot be seen by the public.
No Finding Designation
A court decision that does not find someone guilty of a crime.

Limits and Unknowns

  • It is unclear how many people will benefit from this law.
  • The exact process for filing an expungement request under these new rules has not been fully detailed.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

803525/1

None

Favorable with Amendments { 803525/1 Adopted

Plain English: AMENDMENTS TO SENATE BILL 320 (First Reading File Bill) AMENDMENT NO.

  • AMENDMENTS TO SENATE BILL 320 (First Reading File Bill) AMENDMENT NO.
  • 1 On page 1, in line 4, strike the second “the” and substitute “ a person to file a petition for”; strike in their entirety lines 8 through 12, inclusive; in line 15, strike “10– 110(d)” and substitute “10 -110(a)”; and strike in their entirety lines 18 through 22, inclusive.
  • AMENDMENT NO.
  • 2 On page 3, in line 26, strike the second “or”; in line 28, after “subsection” insert “; OR (4) AN OFFENSE LISTED IN ITEM (1), (2), OR (3) OF THIS SUBSECTION WHERE A REMAINING CHARGE WAS: (I) DISPOSED OF BY A COU RT WITH A NO FINDING DESIGNATION; OR (II) INCLUDED IN A CASE THAT WAS DESIGNATED BY A COURT AS HAVING BEEN TERMINATED WITHOUT FINDING”.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-12 Post Passage

    Approved by the Governor - Chapter 465

  2. 2026-04-08 House

    Favorable Report by Judiciary

  3. 2026-03-26 House

    Hearing 3/31 at 1:00 p.m.

  4. 2026-03-25 House

    Third Reading Passed (130-0)

  5. 2026-03-24 Senate

    Returned Passed

  6. 2026-03-21 House

    Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed

  7. 2026-03-18 Senate

    Favorable with Amendments Report by Judicial Proceedings

  8. 2026-03-09 House

    Referred Judiciary

  9. 2026-03-05 Senate

    Third Reading Passed (41-0)

  10. 2026-03-03 Senate

    Motion Special Order until 3/20 (Senator Smith) Adopted

  11. 2026-03-02 Senate

    Favorable with Amendments { 803525/1 Adopted

  12. 2026-03-02 Senate

    Second Reading Passed with Amendments

  13. 2026-01-23 Senate

    Hearing 2/05 at 1:00 p.m.

  14. 2026-01-22 Senate

    First Reading Judicial Proceedings

  15. Maryland General Assembly

    Text - First - Criminal Procedure - Expungement - No Finding and Case Terminated Without Finding

  16. Maryland General Assembly

    Text - Racial Equity Impact Note

  17. Maryland General Assembly

    Vote - Senate - Committee - Judicial Proceedings

  18. Maryland General Assembly

    Text - Third - Criminal Procedure - Expungement - No Finding and Case Terminated Without Finding

  19. Maryland General Assembly

    Vote - House - Committee - Judiciary

  20. Maryland General Assembly

    Text - Chapter - Criminal Procedure - Expungement - No Finding and Case Terminated Without Finding

Official Summary Text

Authorizing a person to file a petition for expungement of a disposition under a certain provision of law if the disposition was included in a case that was disposed of by the court with a no finding designation or designated by the court as having been terminated without finding.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
Underlining indicates amendments to bill.
Strike out indicates matter stricken from the bill by amendment or deleted from the law by
amendment.
*sb0320*

SENATE BILL 320
E2 6lr0846
SB 649/25 – JPR CF HB 187
By: Senator Muse
Introduced and read first time: January 22, 2026
Assigned to: Judicial Proceedings
Committee Report: Favorable with amendments
Senate action: Adopted
Read second time: March 2, 2026

CHAPTER ______

AN ACT concerning 1

Criminal Procedure – Expungement – No Finding and Case Terminated Without 2
Finding 3

FOR the purpose of authorizing the a person to file a petition for expungement of a 4
disposition under a certain provision of law if the disposition was included in a case 5
that was disposed of by the court with a no finding designation or designated by the 6
court as having been terminated without finding; and generally relating to 7
expungement. 8

BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 9
Article – Criminal Procedure 10
Section 10–110(a) 11
Annotated Code of Maryland 12
(2025 Replacement Volume) 13

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 14
Article – Criminal Procedure 15
Section 10–110(d) 10–110(a) 16
Annotated Code of Maryland 17
(2025 Replacement Volume) 18

BY adding to 19
Article – Criminal Procedure 20
Section 10–110(j) 21
Annotated Code of Maryland 22
2 SENATE BILL 320

(2025 Replacement Volume) 1

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 2
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 3

Article – Criminal Procedure 4

10–110. 5

(a) A person may file a petition listing relevant facts for expungement of a police 6
record, court record, or other record maintained by the State or a political subdivision of 7
the State if the person is convicted of: 8

(1) a misdemeanor that is a violation of: 9

(i) § 6–320 of the Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article; 10

(ii) an offense listed in § 17–613(a) of the Business Occupations and 11
Professions Article; 12

(iii) § 5–712, § 19–304, § 19–308, or Title 5, Subtitle 6 or Subtitle 9 of 13
the Business Regulation Article; 14

(iv) § 3–1508 or § 10–402 of the Courts Article; 15

(v) § 14 –1915, § 14 –2902, or § 14 –2903 of the Commercial Law 16
Article; 17

(vi) § 5–211 of this article; 18

(vii) § 3–203 or § 3–808 of the Criminal Law Article; 19

(viii) § 5 –601 not involving the use or possession of cannabis, § 20
5–602(b)(1), § 5–618, § 5–619, § 5–620, § 5–703, § 5–708, or § 5 –902 of the Criminal Law 21
Article; 22

(ix) § 6–105, § 6 –108, § 6 –205 (fourth degree burglary), § 6 –206, § 23
6–301, § 6–303, § 6–306, § 6–307, § 6–402, or § 6–503 of the Criminal Law Article; 24

(x) § 7–104, § 7 –203, § 7 –205, § 7 –304, § 7 –308, or § 7 –309 of the 25
Criminal Law Article; 26

(xi) § 8–103, § 8–106, § 8–204, § 8–206, § 8–401, § 8–402, § 8–404, § 27
8–406, § 8–408, § 8–503, § 8–521, § 8–523, or § 8–904 of the Criminal Law Article; 28

(xii) § 9–204, § 9–205, § 9–503, or § 9–506 of the Criminal Law Article; 29

SENATE BILL 320 3

(xiii) § 10 –110, § 10 –201, § 10 –402, § 10 –404, or § 10 –502 of the 1
Criminal Law Article; 2

(xiv) § 11–303, § 11–306, or § 11–307 of the Criminal Law Article; 3

(xv) § 12–102, § 12 –103, § 12 –104, § 12 –105, § 12 –109, § 12 –203, § 4
12–204, § 12–205, or § 12–302 of the Criminal Law Article; 5

(xvi) § 13–401, § 13–602, or § 16–201 of the Election Law Article; 6

(xvii) § 4–509 of the Family Law Article; 7

(xviii) § 18–215 of the Health – General Article; 8

(xix) § 4–411 or § 4–2005 of the Housing and Community Development 9
Article; 10

(xx) § 27–403, § 27–404, § 27–405, § 27–406, § 27–406.1, § 27–407, § 11
27–407.1, or § 27–407.2 of the Insurance Article; 12

(xxi) § 8–725.4, § 8–725.5, § 8–725.6, § 8–725.7, § 8–726, § 8–726.1, § 13
8–727.1, or § 8–738.2 of the Natural Resources Article or any prohibited act related to speed 14
limits for personal watercraft; 15

(xxii) § 10 –301, § 10 –306, § 10 –308.1, § 10 –413(e)(1), § 10 –418, § 16
10–502, § 10–611, or § 10–907(a) of the Natural Resources Article; 17

(xxiii) § 5 –307, § 5 –308, § 6 –602, § 7 –402, or § 14 –114 of the Public 18
Safety Article; 19

(xxiv) § 7–318.1, § 7–509, or § 10–507 of the Real Property Article; 20

(xxv) § 9–124 of the State Government Article; 21

(xxvi) § 13 –1001, § 13 –1004, § 13 –1007, or § 13 –1024 of the 22
Tax – General Article; 23

(xxvii) § 16–101 or § 16–303 of the Transportation Article; or 24

(xxviii) the common law offenses of affray, rioting, criminal 25
contempt, battery, or hindering; 26

(2) a felony that is a violation of: 27

(i) § 7–104 of the Criminal Law Article; 28

4 SENATE BILL 320

(ii) the prohibition against possession with intent to distribute a 1
controlled dangerous substance under § 5–602 of the Criminal Law Article; or 2

(iii) § 6–202(a), § 6–203, or § 6–204 of the Criminal Law Article; or 3

(3) an attempt, a conspiracy, or a solicitation of any offense listed in item 4
(1) or (2) of this subsection; OR 5

(4) AN OFFENSE LISTED IN ITEM (1), (2), OR (3) OF THIS SUBSECTION 6
WHERE A REMAINING CHARGE WAS: 7

(I) DISPOSED OF BY A COU RT WITH A NO FIND ING 8
DESIGNATION; OR 9

(II) INCLUDED IN A CASE THAT WAS DESIGNATED BY A COURT AS 10
HAVING BEEN TERMINATED WITHOUT FINDING. 11

(d) (1) If the person is convicted of a new crime during the applicable time 12
period set forth in subsection (c) of this section, the original conviction or convictions are 13
not eligible for expungement unless the new conviction becomes eligible for expungement. 14

(2) A person is not eligible for expungement if the person is a defendant in 15
a pending criminal proceeding. 16

(3) [If] SUBJECT TO SUBSECTION (J) OF THIS SECTION, IF a person is 17
not eligible for expungement of one conviction in a unit, the person is not eligible for 18
expungement of any other conviction in the unit. 19

(J) A DISPOSITION MAY BE E XPUNGED UNDER THIS S ECTION IF THE CASE 20
WAS NOT DISPOSED OF BY AN UNEQUIVOCAL CO NVICTION BUT WAS INS TEAD 21
INCLUDED IN A CASE THAT WAS: 22

(1) DISPOSED OF BY THE C OURT WITH A NO FINDI NG DESIGNATION; 23
OR 24

(2) DESIGNATED BY THE CO URT AS HAVING BEEN T ERMINATED 25
WITHOUT FINDING. 26

SECTION 2. A ND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 27
October 1, 2026. 28