Lawmakers and expungement advocates pushed for ambitious goals during the 2025 legislative session. With backing from Governor Moore’s administration, there was one major victory in the expungement space – an override of the Abhishek appellate decision. MVLS celebrates the passage of this bill, the Expungement Reform Act of 2025, and provides this legislative update on the status of expungement advocacy. Regrettably, a few other important bills did not pass this session, and here we provide some updates on those as well. 

Expungement Reform Act of 2025 (Moore Administration Bill) 

Following up 2024’s historic mass pardons for cannabis offenses, Governor Wes Moore’s administration continued the commitment to second chances by sponsoring the Expungement Reform Act of 2025.  The bill has three components, the most significant being a change to the statutory language that overrides the holding from In re Abhishek I. This 2022 appellate decision was a great cause of concern for Marylanders impacted by a criminal record and the legal services community. Essentially, the court held that the expungement statute’s language requiring “satisfactory completion of a sentence” means that a violation of probation will permanently prohibit expungement in the majority of cases. Advocates felt that this was contrary to the purpose of not only probation itself, but the restorative justice provided through expungement. Thankfully, the Governor’s bill overrides this part of the court decision.  

The bill also adds three charges to the list of eligible convictions. Those are driving without a license, using a bad check, and using a stolen credit card. The absence of driving without a license from the list of eligible convictions has long been an impediment to folks living with criminal records. The conviction previously barred otherwise eligible cases from being expunged.  

Other charges were initially present in the bill, but were removed during the legislative process. Resisting arrest and charges related to counterfeit prescription faced pushback by some legislators. Advocates feel that adding the prescription charges to the list of eligible convictions would address the fallout of the opioid crisis, as many people who struggled with prescription abuse still live with these charges on their record. Next year’s session may see a push for these charges to be added to the statute.  

The above provisions go into effect October 1, 2025. 

Finally, the Governor’s bill requires the judiciary to remove from its public case search system any charges that were placed on the stet docket, if they remain there for three years. These cases are eligible to be expunged after three years, but this rule simply hides them from public view online. The bill does the same for those cannabis cases which were pardoned last year. These changes take effect in January of 2026.  

Good Cause Expungement 

This year, there was another unsuccessful attempt to create a procedure for good cause expungement. This would essentially allow for expungement of any case, regardless of pre-existing eligibility requirements, if the petitioner can demonstrate to the court that they have reformed, are not a danger to the public, and their criminal record is causing them harm. The bill did not pass, but there continues to be a growing effort to enact such a process in Maryland. 

Clean Slate (Automatic Expungement) 

 This bill, which did not pass, would have expanded the existing automatic expungement system. Currently, cases where all charges resulted in dropped or dismissed charges are automatically expunged after three years. However, only cases that occurred after October 1, 2021 are eligible for automatic expungement. This bill would have expanded eligibility to all cases, regardless of when they occurred, as well as add stet and probation before judgment to the eligible disposition list.  

Automatic expungement is a nationwide trend, spearheaded by the Clean Slate Initiative. We are likely to see continued efforts to expand automatic expungement in Maryland.