Criminal Procedure - Expungement - Failure to Obey a Court Order to Report to Confinement
HB0397 expands Maryland’s expungement law by adding convictions for failure to obey a court order to report to a place of confinement to the list of offenses eligible for expungement. The bill amends Criminal Procedure § 10-110 to allow a person convicted of that offense to petition for expungement, while also setting a waiting period before the petition may be filed. Under the bill, the general waiting period is five years after completion of the sentence, unless another provision applies.
The bill also makes conforming changes to the expungement timing rules for certain other offenses already covered by the statute. It preserves longer waiting periods for some categories, including domestic-related crimes and certain assault-related offenses, and it continues to distinguish between misdemeanors, felonies, and specified drug and property offenses. The bill takes effect October 1, 2026.
If enacted, the bill would broaden access to expungement for people convicted of failing to report to confinement, allowing those convictions to be removed from public criminal records after the applicable waiting period. It would amend Maryland’s Criminal Procedure Article, specifically § 10-110, and would affect courts, prosecutors, record custodians, and individuals seeking relief from the collateral consequences of a conviction. The bill does not eliminate the conviction itself, but it creates a pathway to clear the record under existing expungement procedures.
Based on the bill text and the limited context provided, the measure appears to be framed as a criminal justice relief bill with a generally reform-oriented purpose. No committee transcript or vote record is available here, so there is no documented floor or committee debate to indicate strong support or opposition. The bill’s structure suggests a targeted, technical expansion of expungement eligibility rather than a broad overhaul of criminal law.
The main policy issue is whether a conviction for failure to report to confinement should be treated like other expungeable offenses, given that it involves noncompliance with a court order rather than the underlying offense itself. Another point of potential contention is the waiting period: the bill requires a five-year delay before filing, which may be viewed as either a reasonable safeguard or an unnecessary barrier depending on perspective. Because the bill also preserves longer waiting periods for certain violent, domestic, and felony offenses, debate could focus on where this offense fits within Maryland’s broader expungement framework and whether the eligibility expansion should be narrower or broader.