Quick answer: In Maryland you have two separate records with two different custodians. The MVA driving record — points, Vehicle-Law convictions, suspensions and revocations — is held by the Motor Vehicle Administration. The criminal record — court charges and their dispositions, visible on Maryland Judiciary Case Search — is held by the courts. They clear on different tracks: points and driving-record entries age off on the MVA’s own schedule (points after two years under Transp. § 16-404), while the criminal record needs an expungement petition under Crim. Proc. Title 10. Clearing one does not clear the other.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland traffic and criminal cases. This is the single distinction that trips up almost everyone who calls me about “clearing my record” — so it is worth getting straight before you spend a dollar or a day on the wrong process.
Two Records, Two Custodians
Your MVA driving record is a Motor Vehicle Administration file. It carries points, convictions under the Maryland Vehicle Law (the Transportation Article), and administrative actions — suspensions, revocations, restrictions and flags. The MVA reads it to decide whether to suspend you, insurers read it to rate your policy, and an employer checking your driving history reads it too. Points on it are governed entirely by MVA rules, not by a court.
Your criminal record is a court file. Every charging document filed in a Maryland District or Circuit Court shows up on Maryland Judiciary Case Search — whether the case ended in a conviction, a dismissal, an acquittal, a nolle prosequi, or a probation before judgment. This is the record an ordinary employment, housing or licensing background check pulls. Clearing it is what “expungement” means.
Most traffic tickets touch only the first record. A payable citation — speeding, most equipment violations — is not a criminal charge at all; it never creates a court case in the criminal sense, so there is nothing on the criminal side to expunge. Paying that citation is a guilty plea that becomes a conviction on your driving record, which is exactly why I tell clients not to just mail in the fine. See whether you can expunge a Maryland speeding ticket.
| MVA driving record | Criminal record | |
|---|---|---|
| Who holds it | Motor Vehicle Administration | The courts — public through Maryland Judiciary Case Search |
| What’s on it | Points, Vehicle-Law convictions, suspensions, revocations, administrative flags | Charges and their dispositions: convictions, PBJ, dismissals, nolle prosequi, acquittals |
| Who reads it | The MVA, insurers, employers checking your driving | Employers, landlords, licensing boards |
| How it clears | Points age off after 2 years (Transp. § 16-404); entries drop off on the MVA’s own schedule | An expungement petition under Crim. Proc. Title 10 |
| Governing law | Maryland Vehicle Law (Transportation Article) | Crim. Proc. Title 10 (§§ 10-105, 10-110) |
How Each Record Clears
The driving record clears with time, not a petition. Points are never “expunged” — there is no form to file and no judge to ask. Under Md. Code, Transp. § 16-404 they simply stop counting toward suspension two years after the offense, and the underlying entry ages off the record on the MVA’s own timeline. How long a given conviction lingers depends on the offense — read how long a Maryland ticket stays on your record and Maryland’s point system in a nutshell. Nothing you file in a criminal court speeds any of this up.
The criminal record clears only with an expungement petition. Convictions run through Crim. Proc. § 10-110, a closed eligibility list with waiting periods measured from completion of the sentence. Non-convictions — dismissals, acquittals, nolle prosequi, and PBJ — run through § 10-105, which offers faster routes. For the eligibility list and the waiting ladder, see Maryland convictions you can expunge.
Clearing one record does not clear the other. This is the most common and most costly confusion I see. An expungement removes an eligible court record from public view — it does nothing to the points or the conviction sitting in your MVA file, and it will not lower your insurance or lift an MVA suspension. Running it the other way, waiting for points to age off does nothing to a criminal charge on Case Search. They are separate systems, held by separate agencies, cleared by separate processes. Fix the one that is actually hurting you.
The Offenses That Land on Both Records
The overlap is where people get hurt. Incarcerable traffic offenses — a jailable charge such as DUI or DWI under Transp. § 21-902, driving while suspended or revoked (§ 16-303), driving without a license (§ 16-101), and reckless driving (§ 21-901.1) — are prosecuted in criminal court and reported to the MVA. They land on both records at the same time.
When that happens, expungement clears the court/criminal side only. The MVA entry and any points are a separate matter, governed by MVA rules, and they come off on the MVA’s own timeline no matter what the court does. And whether the criminal side can ever be cleared depends on the exact charge and how it ended: a driving-while-suspended or driving-without-a-license conviction is expungeable after five years — see expunging a driving-while-suspended conviction — while a reckless-driving conviction generally cannot be expunged at all unless you kept it from becoming a conviction in the first place.
Which Record Do You Actually Need to Clear?
Start by asking what is hurting you, because the answer sends you to a different agency. If the problem is your insurance rate or an MVA suspension, that is a driving-record problem — you either wait out the points or, far better, fight the ticket up front so the conviction never lands. An expungement will not touch either one. For that side of the house, start with license and MVA issues.
If the problem is a background check for a job, an apartment or a professional license, that is a criminal-record problem, and a Title 10 expungement is the tool — but only for charges the statute makes eligible. The whole expungement knowledge hub walks through eligibility, waiting periods, and the unit rule that quietly sinks more petitions than anything else. Knowing which record you are dealing with is the first and most important decision; get that wrong and you spend months clearing something that was never the problem.
Common Questions
No. They are two separate records held by two different agencies. Expungement under Criminal Procedure Title 10 removes an eligible court record from public view, but it does nothing to the points, convictions or administrative actions in your Motor Vehicle Administration driving record. The driving record is governed by the Maryland Vehicle Law, not by the expungement statute, so an expungement will not lower your insurance rate or lift an MVA suspension. Points come off on the MVA’s own schedule instead.
Points are not expunged and there is no petition to file. Under Transportation Section 16-404 they stop counting toward a suspension two years after the offense, and the underlying entry ages off the driving record on the Motor Vehicle Administration’s own timeline. How long a conviction lingers depends on the offense. Nothing you file in a criminal court speeds this up, because points live on the MVA record, not the court record.
Yes. Incarcerable traffic offenses such as DUI or DWI, driving while suspended or revoked, driving without a license, and reckless driving are prosecuted in criminal court and also reported to the Motor Vehicle Administration, so they land on both records at once. An expungement clears only the court and criminal side. The MVA entry and any points are separate, governed by MVA rules, and come off on the MVA’s timeline regardless of what happens with the expungement.
Law Offices of David R. Waranch — 301-563-9575 · toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Hablamos Español.
Last updated: August 2026. Statutory references: Md. Code, Transp. §§ 16-101, 16-303, 16-404, 21-901.1, 21-902; Md. Code, Crim. Proc. §§ 10-105, 10-110. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.