Sex Crime Expungement Lawyer Maryland

Maryland law does not offer a general second chance for a sex offense conviction. Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-110 sets out the convictions a Maryland court may expunge, and the only sex-related entries on that list are the prostitution-related misdemeanors at Md. Code, Crim. Law §§ 11-303, 11-306, and 11-307. Convictions under Md. Code, Crim. Law §§ 3-303, 3-304, 3-307, 3-308, 3-315, 3-324, 3-602, 3-809, 3-902, 11-207, 11-208, 11-304, 11-305, and 3-1102 are not expungeable.

That single fact reorders the whole conversation. A reader who believes a Maryland sex offense conviction can be cleared once enough time has passed is working from a mistaken premise, and correcting it carries more weight than anything else on this page. The realistic question in most Maryland records is not whether a conviction can be expunged. The question is whether the case ever became a conviction at all. Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-105 reaches charges that ended in an acquittal, a dismissal, probation before judgment, a nolle prosequi, a stet, a compromise, or a vacated conviction. Those dispositions, rather than the passage of time, open the door.

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys review Maryland records with that distinction in front of them, charge by charge and disposition by disposition. The firm has practiced since 1997 and maintains a 24/7 phone intake. Request a consultation by calling (888) 437-7747.

On this page

What Maryland Expungement Law Reaches, and What It Leaves Alone

Maryland expungement runs through two sections, and they do different work. Reading the wrong one into a record produces confident answers that the statute does not support.

Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-105 addresses a charge that did not end in a standing conviction. It covers an acquittal, a dismissal, probation before judgment, a nolle prosequi, a stet, a compromise, and a vacated conviction. Waiting periods under this section vary by disposition and generally run 3 years, and a court may grant expungement at any time for good cause. The section reaches non-convictions. Serious sex offenses under Md. Code, Crim. Law Title 3, Subtitle 3 are not expungeable as convictions under § 10-105, so a person convicted of one of those offenses gains nothing from it.

Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-110 works from an enumerated list of convictions. The standard waiting period runs 5 years after completion of sentence. Assault and felonies generally carry 7 years. Burglary and felony theft carry 10 years. Domestically related offenses carry 15 years. The list is closed, so a conviction that does not appear on it never becomes eligible no matter how much time passes. The sex-related entries on that list are the prostitution-related misdemeanors already named above: Md. Code, Crim. Law § 11-303, prostitution and assignation, a misdemeanor, and Md. Code, Crim. Law § 11-306, procuring or soliciting prostitution, a misdemeanor.

One further rule inside § 10-110 surprises people. Maryland groups charges into units. If one conviction in a unit is ineligible, no other conviction in that unit may be expunged. An otherwise eligible misdemeanor sitting in the same unit as an ineligible sex offense conviction stays on the record alongside it. A Maryland expungement review therefore starts with the entire case file rather than the one charge a person wants removed. For that reason, an accurate answer about one count depends on every other charge recorded in the same unit.

How Mr. Sris and the Firm’s Of Counsel Attorneys Handle These Cases

Work on a Maryland expungement matter begins with the record as the courts entered it, not as a client remembers it. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys read every charge on the case, the disposition entered for each, and the date the sentence was completed, because each of those three items controls a different part of the analysis.

The disposition decides which statute applies. A charge that ended in a nolle prosequi, a stet, a dismissal, an acquittal, probation before judgment, or a compromise falls under § 10-105. A conviction falls under § 10-110 or falls outside expungement entirely. Clients frequently describe probation before judgment as a conviction and describe a stet as a dismissal. Those descriptions change the answer, so the attorneys work from the docket rather than from the description.

The unit grouping decides whether an eligible charge can travel alone. Where a case carries several counts, the attorneys map the unit before telling anyone that a particular count can come off, because § 10-110 blocks the rest of a unit once one conviction in it is ineligible.

The registry question sits alongside all of this and does not move with it. Expungement of a court record and a registration obligation are separate subjects under Maryland law, and the firm treats them separately so that no client leaves with the impression that one resolves the other.

Where the record shows a conviction that Maryland does not permit a court to expunge, Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys say so directly. The firm concentrates in criminal defense, and a client is served by an accurate reading of the statute rather than by a filing the statute does not allow.

About Mr. Sris and the Firm

Mr. Sris is the Owner and Founder of the firm. He is a former prosecutor, and that background shapes how he reads a Maryland charging document and a docket entry, because the choices that produce a nolle prosequi, a stet, or a dismissal are made on the State’s side of a case. He is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York.

The firm was founded in 1997 and has handled criminal defense matters since then. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys work on Maryland expungement and sex offense matters together, and the firm assigns that work according to the record in front of it rather than to a fixed script. Maryland matters are staffed the same way regardless of how a client first reached the firm, and the firm keeps that assignment under review as a record develops.

Clients reach the firm through a 24/7 phone intake. An expungement review is a document exercise before it is anything else, so the firm asks for the charging documents, the docket, and any sentencing paperwork a client still holds. Where a client no longer has those papers, the attorneys work from what the court record shows. Request a consultation to have a Maryland record read against § 10-105 and § 10-110. Call (888) 437-7747.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a Maryland sex offense conviction be expunged?

In almost every instance, no. Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-110 sets out the convictions a Maryland court may expunge, and the only sex-related entries on that list are the prostitution-related misdemeanors at Md. Code, Crim. Law §§ 11-303, 11-306, and 11-307. Convictions under Md. Code, Crim. Law §§ 3-303, 3-304, 3-307, 3-308, 3-315, 3-324, 3-602, 3-809, 3-902, 11-207, 11-208, 11-304, 11-305, and 3-1102 are not expungeable. Waiting longer does not change that result, and neither does a clean record afterward. Anyone who has heard otherwise is working from something the statute does not support.

My charge ended in a nolle prosequi. Does that change my options?

It changes which statute applies. Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-105 addresses charges that ended without a conviction, and it reaches an acquittal, a dismissal, probation before judgment, a nolle prosequi, a stet, a compromise, and a vacated conviction. Waiting periods under that section vary by disposition and generally run 3 years, and a court may grant expungement at any time for good cause. A record showing one of those dispositions sits in a different category from a record showing a conviction. The docket entry, rather than a memory of what happened in the courtroom, controls which category applies.

What is the unit rule under § 10-110?

Maryland groups related charges into a unit. Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-110 provides that if one conviction in a unit is ineligible, no other conviction in that unit may be expunged. The practical effect catches people off guard. A misdemeanor that would qualify on its own stays on the record when it shares a unit with an ineligible conviction, and a sex offense conviction is ineligible in nearly every case. The firm therefore reviews an entire case rather than the single charge a client wants removed, because the answer about one count usually depends on the counts beside it.

How long is the waiting period under § 10-110?

It depends on the conviction. The standard waiting period runs 5 years after completion of sentence. Assault and felonies generally carry 7 years. Burglary and felony theft carry 10 years. Domestically related offenses carry 15 years. A waiting period only matters once a conviction appears on the eligible list, so eligibility comes first and timing comes second. For a charge that ended without a conviction, Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-105 governs instead. Waiting periods there vary by disposition and generally run 3 years, and a court may grant expungement at any time for good cause.

Does an expungement end a registration requirement?

No. Expungement of a court record and a registration obligation are separate subjects under Maryland law, and this page does not treat one as an answer to the other. A person asking about registration is asking a different question under a different statutory framework, and the answer turns on the specific offense and the specific record. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys address the two subjects separately for that reason. Anyone who has been told that clearing a court record resolves a registration obligation should treat that as an assumption to check rather than as a settled fact.

This page provides general information and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

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