Log in to MDEC with your account information.

2. Click “File into Existing Case.”

3. Click the drop down option to look through the locations. Select your case’s location and click “Search.”

4. Refer to your original case documents to verify the case information such as location and case number.

5. After choosing the location, fill in the case number.

6. On this page, click the “Actions” drop down. Then select “File into case.”.

7. On this page, you’re going to fill out the filing code and provide a filing description.

8. Under Filing Code, select Petition for Expungement.

9. Fill out the Filing Description with “expungement petition”.

10. Next, you will upload the original court document as the Lead Document in the second circled field. The document you upload should only contain the expungement petition as a PDF. Note that each individual page must be submitted as a separate document. This means that if your filing requires a fee waiver or liability waiver in addition to an expungement petition, these must be uploaded separately. You need not file multiple times, you will be given the opportunity to upload multiple documents to a single filing. See next step for further instructions.

Note that each individual page must be submitted as a separate document. This means that if your filing requires a fee waiver or liability waiver in addition to an expungement petition, these must be uploaded separately. You need not file multiple times, you will be given the opportunity to upload multiple documents to a single filing. See next step for further instructions.

11. Clicking the Upload button under where it says “Computer,” will bring up a separate window where you can browse through your computer’s files to locate the original court document.  Once you’ve uploaded your lead document, select “Save Changes.”  You will follow the same process if you need to file a fee waiver by  selecting the fee waiver option and then upload the document as a PDF.  First you will select add another filing, and then follow the process outlined above.  You will also need to repeat this process for a third time, if you need to file a General Waiver and Release, by selecting “Miscellaneous filing” and then uploading it as a separate PDF document.  Once all your filing documents have been loaded, then you go to the next step.

12. Next you’ll need to add Service Contacts. Here you will see the data laid out from your case. Next to the Plaintiff’s information, there is an “Actions” drop down menu. Click this and then select “Add from Public List” to add the State of Maryland for an expungement case. In the “First Name” field, search for the county where you are filing. You may see multiple email addresses for the State’s Attorney’s office. For an official list of the State’s Attorney’s email addresses for each county, click here.  

13. You can search by Firm or Email to identify the appropriate States Attorney.   If searching by email, use “statesattorney” to locate various offices.

14. Scrolling down to the bottom of this page will bring you to the Fees section. Since this is pro bono through MVLS, you will use a fee waiver account.

15. IMPORTANT: Do not pay from your own account for cases filed on behalf of MVLS – this is not a reimbursement process, but a fee waiver. If you’re not familiar with the waiver account process or you do not have this option available on your drop down, follow these directions here to get that account set up. Once this is completed, click “Save Changes.”

16. Check these boxes showing that you agree with these statements. Click the “Summary” button to continue.

17. On the next screen, you will see a summary of the information that you’ve filled in about your case.

18. If all of the information looks correct, click “Submit” to finish.

19. You will get a little notification confirming that the process is complete with the option to view your receipt. You’ll also see that under My Filing Activity, the Pending column has a little notification on it. This refers to the case you just filed through MDEC, which is now being processed. 

20. If you click on the Pending files, you can see another quick summary of your case.

21. Shortly after, you should receive an email that looks like this in your inbox. This is a confirmation of the case you filed being submitted. You will be kept up to date through email when the case is no longer pending. You may receive a notice that service is undeliverable – do not be alarmed. This often happens because the clerk serves the States Attorney