HB 169

Criminal Procedure - Expungement of Records - Good Cause

Sponsor: Malcolm P. Ruff (District 41)Committee: JudiciarySubject: Criminal Law - ProceduresStatus: Hearing 3/03 at 1:00 p.m. (as of Sep 4, 2026)

What this bill does

Official synopsis

Authorizing a person to file a petition for expungement of any misdemeanor or felony conviction a certain period of time 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 on a showing of good cause; and providing that a denial of a petition may not be appealed and a subsequent petition may not be filed for a certain period of time.

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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 (49)

MGA witness list

FAV 41FavorableFWA 1Favorable with amendmentsUNF 6UnfavorableINFO 1Information only

Position	Witness	Organization	Testimony
FAV	Spaccasi, Olivia	ACLU-MD	Written (PDF)
FAV	Alexander, Jamie Grace	BALT	Oral
FAV	Keyes, Rachael	CASH Campaign of Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Liggins, Derek	Center For Urban Families	Written (PDF)
FAV	Alberts, Zachary	Center for Urban Families	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Dews, Christopherlobbyist	Dews & Associates	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Pruitt, Lauren	FreeState Justice	Written (PDF)
FAV	Johnson, Dr. Carmen	Helping Ourselves to Transform	Written (PDF)
FAV	Reid, Emma L.	Law Office of E. L. Reid, Esq.	Position only
FAV	McDermott, Meaghan	Maryland Legal Aid	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Link, Sean	Maryland Office of the Public Defender	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Sweeney, Christopher	Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service	Written (PDF)
FAV	Rosen-Cohen, Nancy	NCADD-Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Kennedy, Anita	National Alliance of Medication Assisted Recovery, Inc.	Written (PDF)
FAV	Harris, Rhea	OAG	Written (PDF)
FAV	Parsons, Michael	Out For Justice	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Selden, Trina	Out for Justice	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Mcdonald, Steven	Out for justice	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Powell, Guy	Private Citizen	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Budlow, Jack	Racial Justice and the Law Clinic	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Blaha, Katherine	SURJ	Written (PDF)
FAV	Badeker, Melissa	SURJ Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Girard, Meredith	Shore Legal Access (formerly Mid-Shore Pro Bono)	Written (PDF)
FAV	Hoffman, Theresa M.	Showing Up for Racial Justice Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Muldrow, Adrian	T.A.M.E Advocacy	Oral
FAV	Hoffman, Charlotte	Trans Maryland	Position only
FAV	Warnken, Heather	University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Criminal Justice Reform	Written (PDF)
FAV	Kaplowitz, Richard KAP	Year	Written (PDF)
FAV	Carroll, Marvin	Individual	Oral
FAV	Delegate Ruff, Delegate Rufflegislator	Individual	Oral
FAV	Ford, John	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Higdon, Thomas	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Merritt, Sekwan	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Merritt, Sekwan	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Mitchell, Martin	Individual	Oral
FAV	Mitchell, William	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Rothstein, Melissa	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Thomas-Burrell, Cassandra	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Whalen, Amber	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Willett, Colin Andrew	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Yoder, Daryl	Individual	Written (PDF)
UNF	Campbell, Colin	Howard County State's Attorney's Office	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Jackson, Samiralobbyist	MD Police Chiefs Assoc. and MD Sheriffs Assoc.	Written (PDF)
UNF	Wilt, Laura	Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Brown, Kirsten	Maryland State's Attorneys' Association	Written (PDF)
UNF	Borzilleri, Keri	State's Attorney's Office for Baltimore City	Oral
UNF	Tibbals, Trudy	Individual	Written (PDF)
FWA	Parsons, Matt	Baltimore Action Legal Team (BALT)	Oral
INFO	Vormelker, Will	Maryland Judiciary	Written (PDF)

Organizations on record

ACLU-MDFAV 1

BALTFAV 1

Baltimore Action Legal Team (BALT)FWA 1

CASH Campaign of MarylandFAV 1

Center for Urban FamiliesFAV 1

Center For Urban FamiliesFAV 1

Dews & AssociatesFAV 1

FreeState JusticeFAV 1

Helping Ourselves to TransformFAV 1

Howard County State's Attorney's OfficeUNF 1

Law Office of E. L. Reid, Esq.FAV 1

Maryland Crime Victims' Resource CenterUNF 1

Maryland JudiciaryINFO 1

Maryland Legal AidFAV 1

Maryland Office of the Public DefenderFAV 1

Maryland State's Attorneys' AssociationUNF 1

Maryland Volunteer Lawyers ServiceFAV 1

MD Police Chiefs Assoc. and MD Sheriffs Assoc.UNF 1

National Alliance of Medication Assisted Recovery, Inc.FAV 1

NCADD-MarylandFAV 1

OAGFAV 1

Out for justiceFAV 1

Out for JusticeFAV 1

Out For JusticeFAV 1

Private CitizenFAV 1

Racial Justice and the Law ClinicFAV 1

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

Showing Up for Racial Justice BaltimoreFAV 1

State's Attorney's Office for Baltimore CityUNF 1

SURJFAV 1

SURJ BaltimoreFAV 1

T.A.M.E AdvocacyFAV 1

Trans MarylandFAV 1

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

YearFAV 1

Registered lobbyists who testified

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

UNFJackson, SamiraMD Police Chiefs Assoc. and MD Sheriffs Assoc.Registered for: Critical Response Group; Dell Technologies Inc.; Empower; Forward Financing; HDR Engineering, Inc.; Maryland Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs…