HB 55

Did not advance

Criminal Procedure - Expungement of Records - Good Cause

Sponsor: Malcolm P. Ruff (District 41)Committee: JudiciarySubject: Criminal Law - ProceduresStatus: Hearing 3/04 at 1:00 p.m. (as of Dec 1, 2025)

What this bill does

Official synopsis

Authorizing a person to file a petition for expungement of any misdemeanor or felony conviction after the completion of the sentence, parole, probation, and any other form of mandatory treatment associated with the conviction; authorizing a court to grant a petition at any time on a showing of good cause; and providing that a denial of a certain petition may not be appealed and a subsequent petition may not be filed for at least 5 years.

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Analysis reads the bill text, the fiscal note, and the witness list. It is generated by Claude and reviewed by nobody, so check the source documents before you rely on it.

Testimony (0)

MGA witness list

FAV 54FavorableUNF 6UnfavorableINFO 1Information only

Position	Witness	Organization	Testimony
FAV	Spaccasi, Olivia	ACLU-MD	Written (PDF)
FAV	Baker, Candace	America Works of Maryland	Oral
FAV	McCants, Monica	America Works of Maryland	Oral
FAV	Meier, Kelly	America Works of Maryland	Oral
FAV	Stokes, Robert	America Works of Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Netus, Marsha	America Works of Maryland, Inc.	Oral
FAV	Liggins, Derek	Center For Urban Families	Written (PDF)
FAV	Alberts, Zachary	Center for Urban Families	Oral
FAV	Antoine, Joannelobbyist	Common Cause Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Dews, Christopherlobbyist	Cornerstone Government Affairs	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	N'Diaye, Sabrina	Delta Sigma Theta Sorority	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Taylor, Ronnie	FreeState Justice	Written (PDF)
FAV	Agarin, Ufuoma	Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Caroom, Philip	Maryland Alliance for Justice Reform	Position only
FAV	Francis, Crystal	Maryland Alliance for Justice Reform	Written (PDF)
FAV	McDermott, Meaghan	Maryland Legal Aid	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Rothstein, Melissa	Maryland Office Of The Public Defender	Oral
FAV	Sweeney, Christopher	Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service	Oral
FAV	Rosen-Cohen, Nancy	NCADD-Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	JamesTownes, Lori	National Association for Public Defense	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Battle, Carlos	New Shiloh Baptist Church	Position only
FAV	Selden, Trina	Out for Justice	Oral
FAV	Speaks, Terry	Out for Justice	Position only
FAV	Mcdonald, Steven	Out for justice	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Coleman, Harold	Private Citizen	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Powell, Guy	Private Citizen	Written (PDF)
FAV	Puentes, Ericalobbyist	Progressive Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Haney, Erin	Reform Alliance	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Blaha, Katherine	SURJ	Written (PDF)
FAV	Hauck, Barbara	SURJ Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Kleinman, Jan	SURJ Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Palmisano, Erica	SURJ Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Shillenn, Rebecca	SURJ Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Girard, Meredith	Shore Legal Access (formerly Mid-Shore Pro Bono)	Written (PDF)
FAV	Powell, Holly	Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)	Written (PDF)
FAV	Hoffman, Theresa M.	Showing Up for Racial Justice Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Warnken, Heather	University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Criminal Justice Reform	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Kaplowitz, Richard KAP	Year	Written (PDF)
FAV	Bell, Christina	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Bond, Jaquan	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Delegate Ruff, Delegate Rufflegislator	Individual	Oral
FAV	Dolamore, Stephanie	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Firestone, Lori	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Ford, John	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Freeman, William	Individual	Oral
FAV	Johnson, John	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Lent, Michael	Individual	Position only
FAV	Mitchell, Martin	Individual	Oral
FAV	Mitchell, Melody	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Morehouse, Zachary	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Pereschuk, Alicia	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Spears, Maria	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Willett, Colin Andrew	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Yoder, Daryl	Individual	Written (PDF)
UNF	Cox, John	Baltimore County States Attorneys Office, Maryland States Attorneys Association	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Jackson, Samiralobbyist	Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors of Maryland	Written (PDF)
UNF	Thompson, Mary Ann	St. Mary's County Detention and Rehabilitation Center	Written (PDF)
UNF	Chang, Jade	Individual	Written (PDF)
UNF	Lang, Alan	Individual	Position only
UNF	Shih, Nancy	Individual	Written (PDF)

Showing 60 of 61

Organizations on record

ACLU-MDFAV 1

America Works of MarylandFAV 4

America Works of Maryland, Inc.FAV 1

Baltimore County States Attorneys Office, Maryland States Attorneys AssociationUNF 1

Center for Urban FamiliesFAV 1

Center For Urban FamiliesFAV 1

Common Cause MarylandFAV 1

Cornerstone Government AffairsFAV 1

Delta Sigma Theta SororityFAV 1

FreeState JusticeFAV 1

Legislative Black Caucus of MarylandFAV 1

Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors of MarylandUNF 1

Maryland Alliance for Justice ReformFAV 2

Maryland Legal AidFAV 1

Maryland Office Of The Public DefenderFAV 1

Maryland Volunteer Lawyers ServiceFAV 1

National Association for Public DefenseFAV 1

NCADD-MarylandFAV 1

New Shiloh Baptist ChurchFAV 1

Office of the Attorney GeneralINFO 1

Out for justiceFAV 1

Out for JusticeFAV 2

Private CitizenFAV 2

Progressive MarylandFAV 1

Reform AllianceFAV 1

Shore Legal Access (formerly Mid-Shore Pro Bono)FAV 1

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)FAV 1

Showing Up for Racial Justice BaltimoreFAV 1

St. Mary's County Detention and Rehabilitation CenterUNF 1

SURJFAV 1

SURJ BaltimoreFAV 4

University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Criminal Justice ReformFAV 1

YearFAV 1

Registered lobbyists who testified

FAVAntoine, JoanneCommon Cause MarylandRegistered for: Common Cause Maryland

FAVDews, ChristopherCornerstone Government AffairsRegistered for: Advance Maryland Education Fund; Beyond Impact; Center for Urban Families; Dews & Associates; Out for Justice, Inc.; REFORM Alliance…

FAVPuentes, EricaProgressive MarylandRegistered for: Progressive Maryland

UNFJackson, SamiraLicensed Clinical Professional Counselors of MarylandRegistered for: Critical Response Group; Dell Technologies Inc.; Empower; Forward Financing; HDR Engineering, Inc.; Maryland Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs…