More Categories

Rule 4-508 – Court Order for Expungement of Records

May 13, 2021 | Criminal Prodcedure, Maryland

(a) Content. An order for expungement of records shall be substantially in the form set forth at the end of this Title as Form 4-508.1, as modified to suit the circumstances of the case. If the court determines that the procedures for expungement of court records set forth in Rule 4-511 are not practicable in the circumstances, the order shall specify the alternative procedures to be followed.

Cross reference: Code, Criminal Procedure Article, §§ 10-103(f) and 10-105(f).

(b) Stay.

(1)Entry. If the court, over the objection of a State’s Attorney or law enforcement agency, enters an order granting expungement, the order is stayed for 30 days after entry and thereafter if a timely notice of appeal is filed, pending the disposition of the appeal and further order of court.
(2)Lifting. A stay shall be lifted upon disposition of any appeal or, if no notice of appeal was timely filed, upon expiration of the time prescribed for filing a notice of appeal. If an order for expungement has been stayed and no appeal is pending, a stay based upon an application may be lifted upon written consent of the law enforcement agency, and a stay based upon a petition may be lifted upon written consent of the State’s Attorney.
(3)Notice. Promptly upon the lifting of a stay, the clerk shall send notice of the lifting of the stay to the parties and to each custodian of records, including the Central Repository, to which an order for expungement and a compliance form are required to be sent pursuant to section (d) of this Rule.
(c) Finality. An order of court for expungement of records, whether or not stayed, or an order denying an application or petition for expungement, is a final judgment.

Cross reference: Code, Courts Article, § 12-301.

(d) Service of Order and Compliance Form. Upon entry of a court order granting or denying expungement, the clerk forthwith shall serve a true copy of the order and any stay of the order on all parties to the proceeding. Upon entry of an order granting expungement, the clerk shall serve on each custodian of records designated in the order and on the Central Repository a true copy of the order together with a blank form of Certificate of Compliance set forth at the end of this Title as Form 4-508.3.

Md. Crim. Causes. 4-508

This Rule is derived in part from former Rule EX7 and is in part new.

Adopted April 6, 1984, eff. July 1, 1984. Amended June 28, 1988, eff. July 1, 1988; May 9, 1991, eff. July 1, 1991; June 8, 1998, eff. Oct. 1, 1998; Jan. 8, 2002, eff. Feb. 1, 2002; Nov. 8, 2005, eff. Jan. 1, 2006.

HISTORICAL NOTES

2002 Orders

The January 8, 2002, order amended the cross reference following section (a).

2005 Orders

The November 8, 2005, order inserted new section (b), related to stays; redesignated former sections (b) and (c) as sections (c) and (d), respectively; in former section (b), now section (c); inserted “whether or not stayed,”; amended the cross reference following section (c); in former section (c), now section (d), in the first sentence, inserted “and any stay of the order” and, in the second sentence, substituted “Upon entry of an order granting expungement,” for “Thirty days after the entry of an order granting expungement or upon expiration of any stay,”; and amended the source note.