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Rule 4-512 – Disposition of Expunged Records

May 13, 2021 | Criminal Prodcedure, Maryland

Disposition of expunged records shall be as follows:

(a) Removal. The original of all court files and records ordered to be expunged and any unitized microform of record shall be removed from their usual and customary filing or storage location.
(b) Sealing–Unsealing. The original case file, and all other court records in the clerk’s custody relating or referring to the action or proceeding, including any unitized microform of records and certificates of compliance, shall be sealed in a manila envelope on which the docket or case file number, and a clerk’s Certificate of Expungement and Caution, shall be endorsed or stamped as follows:

CERTIFICATE OF EXPUNGEMENT AND CAUTION

I HEREBY CERTIFY that this sealed envelope contains the case file relating to the action or proceeding docketed or filed under the above mentioned Docket or Case File Number, which records have been expunged pursuant to an Order of Court dated the day of __________ (month), __________ (year).

CAUTION: This envelope is not to be unsealed or the contents or any part thereof disclosed to any person except pursuant to a written Order of Court, under penalty of a fine of up to $1,000.00, imprisonment for up to one year, or both, and to dismissal from employment, as provided by Section 10-108 of the Criminal Procedure Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

DATED this ……. day of

…………,

…….

(month)

(year)

Clerk/Deputy Clerk

Sealed expunged records may be unsealed on written order of court on good cause shown, and the court may by order permit access to expunged records in the interest of justice.

(c) Alphabetical Listing. A separate alphabetical listing of names of persons whose court records have been expunged shall be maintained by the clerk. The listing shall contain a reference to the docket or case file number of the action or proceeding in which expungement was ordered.
(d) Notices–General Waivers and Releases. Notices and General Waivers and Releases shall be maintained by the law enforcement agency or the clerk, as the case may be, in a denied access area, until the expiration of any applicable statute of limitations, after which time they may be destroyed by shredding.

Cross reference: Code, Criminal Procedure Article, § 10-103(b).

(e) Storage in Denied Access Area on Premises–Prohibition on Transfer. All expunged records shall be filed and maintained by the clerk in numerical sequence by docket or case file number, together with the Index of Expunged Records, in one or more locked filing cabinets to be located on the premises of the clerk’s office but in a separate secure area to which the public and other persons having no legitimate reason for being there are denied access. Expunged records shall not be transferred to any Hall of Records facility.

Cross reference: Code, Criminal Procedure Article, § 10-101(e).

(f) Minimum Period of Retention. Expunged records shall be retained by the clerk for a minimum period of three years after the date the order for expungement was entered. Expunged case files in multiple defendant cases shall be retained by the clerk until the prison terms, if any, of all co-defendants convicted in the action have been served.
(g) Destruction Method and Schedule. Upon the expiration of the minimum retention period provided in section (f) of this Rule, and unless otherwise ordered by the court, expunged records may be destroyed by the clerk by shredding or other method of complete destruction. Upon destruction of the expunged records, the name of the person whose court records have been destroyed shall be deleted from the listing maintained under section (c) of this Rule. Destruction of expunged records shall promptly be reported to the Records Management Division of the Hall of Records Commission on an appropriate destruction schedule.

Md. Crim. Causes. 4-512

This Rule is derived from former Rule EX11.

Adopted April 6, 1984, eff. July 1, 1984. Amended June 8, 1998, eff. Oct. 1, 1998; May 9, 2000, eff. July 1, 2000; Jan. 8, 2002, eff. Feb. 1, 2002; Oct. 31, 2002, eff. Jan. 1, 2003.

HISTORICAL NOTES

2000 Orders

The May 9, 2000, order, in section (b), in the form, deleted the prefix “19” in the year.

2002 Orders

The January 8, 2002, order, in section (b), updated references to the Criminal Procedure Article in the Certificate of Expungement and Caution form; and amended the cross references following sections (d) and (e).

The October 31, 2002, order, in the first sentence of section (f), added “after the date the order for expungement was entered”.

2004 Orders

The December 27, 2004, Administrative Order on Expungement of Criminal Records provides:

“WHEREAS, Compliance with an expungement order can be accomplished effectively only if the Judiciary provides identifying information, required by the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Expungement Unit, for expungement of records in its Criminal Justice Information System, as well as that of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and

“WHEREAS, Maryland Rule 4-512(b) provides for expungement of court records through sealing; and

“WHEREAS, Immediate sealing of expunged records has interfered with obtaining the identifying information needed for effective expungement and with proper filing of certificates of compliance; and

“WHEREAS, The process for unsealing expunged records is cumbersome, time consuming, and unnecessary with regard to governmental personnel carrying out their duties in connection with effective compliance with the order for expungement; and

“WHEREAS, Maryland Code, Criminal Procedure Article, § 10-105(f) provides 60 days for compliance with an order for expungement not stayed pending appeal;

“NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert M. Bell, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals and administrative head of the Judicial Branch, pursuant to the authority conferred by Article IV, § 18 of the Maryland Constitution, do hereby order this 27th day of December, 2004:

“1. On receipt of an order for expungement of a court record, a clerk of court:

“A. Promptly shall remove the record from public inspection and give the court and person seeking expungement notice of compliance;

“B. During the 60 days after the date on which an unstayed order is entered, shall allow access to the record by personnel of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Expungement Unit, designated by the Manager of the Unit for purposes of complying with the order;

“C. Shall include within the record each Certificate of Compliance received by the clerk with regard to the record;

“D. Promptly shall notify the issuing judge if a custodian fails to file a timely Certificate of Compliance; and

“E. On notice from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Expungement Unit, but no later than 60 days after the date on which an unstayed order is entered, shall seal the record in accordance with the Maryland Rule 4-512.

“2. Personnel of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Expungement Unit, shall carry out their responsibilities in connection with expunged records as expeditiously as possible, in order to allow the sealing of expunged records as soon as possible.

“3. This Order shall be effective on January 15, 2005.”