Quick answer: A Charles County expungement petition goes to the court that heard your case — the District Court or the Circuit Court for Charles County, both of which sit in La Plata — not the courthouse nearest your home. Whether the case actually clears then turns on your disposition and on Crim. Proc. § 10-107: one non-expungeable charge from an arrest blocks every other charge in that same unit.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland criminal and traffic cases, including in the Charles County courts in La Plata. Statewide eligibility is laid out on my convictions you can expunge page; this one covers how it plays out for people in Waldorf, La Plata, and the rest of the county.
One ineligible charge can block the rest. Under Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-107, charges from the same arrest or incident are treated as a single unit, so if even one of them is not eligible, none of the charges in that unit can be expunged. It is the most common reason a Charles County expungement petition is denied. Which offenses qualify is set by § 10-110 for convictions and § 10-105 for dismissals, acquittals, and PBJs. See which Maryland convictions can be expunged or the full Maryland expungement guide.
Which Charles County Court Gets Your Petition
Crim. Proc. § 10-105(b)(1) and § 10-110(b)(1) both require filing “in the court in which the proceeding began.” Both the District Court of Maryland for Charles County and the Circuit Court for Charles County sit in La Plata, the county seat, but they are separate courts. The District Court handles most misdemeanors and traffic citations; the Circuit Court handles felonies, jury trials, and District Court appeals. A case tried in the District Court is petitioned there, and a Circuit Court case in the Circuit Court — even if you live in Waldorf or out of state now. Your case papers, not your address, settle which court is correct.
| Where the case was heard | Where the petition goes | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| District Court for Charles County (La Plata) | The District Court in La Plata | § 10-105(b)(1) / § 10-110(b)(1) |
| Circuit Court for Charles County (La Plata) | The Circuit Court in La Plata | § 10-105(b)(1) / § 10-110(b)(1) |
| District Court case appealed to the Circuit Court | The Circuit Court | § 10-105(b)(3)(i) |
| Case transferred from one court to another | The court it was transferred to | § 10-105(b)(2)(i) |
| Charge transferred to juvenile court | The court of original jurisdiction | § 10-105(b)(2)(ii) / § 10-106(b) |
The Unit Rule: One Bad Count Blocks the Whole Arrest
“If a person is not entitled to expungement of one charge or conviction in a unit, the person is not entitled to expungement of any other charge or conviction in the unit.”
That is § 10-107(b)(1), and it is the single point people get backwards. Related charges from one arrest are not easier to clear together — they rise or fall together. A unit is two or more charges from “the same incident, transaction, or set of facts,” which is exactly what a typical Charles County stop along Route 301 or an arrest in Waldorf produces. Getting three counts dismissed changes nothing if a fourth is a conviction you cannot reach; the dismissed counts stay visible because of the one you pled to. Two things sit outside the unit: a minor traffic violation and possession of cannabis under Crim. Law § 5-601, under § 10-107(a) and (b)(2). Read the traffic carve-out narrowly — § 10-101(h) defines a minor traffic violation as a nonincarcerable one, meaning a payable, fine-only citation. Anything jailable joins the unit: DUI, driving while suspended, driving without a license, reckless driving.
Your Disposition Sets the Clock
How your case ended decides both whether you can file and when. Each wait runs from the event in the right-hand column, and for convictions the clock starts at completion of the sentence — which under § 10-101(c) includes any probation, parole, or mandatory supervision, so it starts later than most people assume.
| How your case ended | Earliest you can file | Measured from |
|---|---|---|
| Acquittal, dismissal, or nolle prosequi | 3 years — or immediately with a written general waiver and release of all tort claims from the charge, § 10-105(c)(1) | The disposition |
| Stet docket | 3 years, § 10-105(c)(5) | The stet |
| Probation before judgment (general) | The later of discharge from probation or 3 years from the grant, § 10-105(c)(2)(i) | Discharge / grant of probation |
| PBJ for DUI or DWI, Transp. § 21-902(a) or (b) | 15 years, § 10-105(c)(2)(ii) | Discharge from probation |
| PBJ for § 21-902(c), (d), (h) or (i) | Never — excluded by § 10-105(a)(3) | — |
| Conviction on an offense listed in § 10-110(a) | 5 years as the general rule; 3, 7, 10 or 15 in the cases § 10-110(c) names | Completion of the sentence |
The full 3-, 7-, 10- and 15-year ladder is broken out on my Maryland expungement waiting periods page, and the waiver-and-release shortcut in early expungement. Three disqualifiers catch people who are otherwise inside their window: you are ineligible while a defendant in any pending criminal case (§ 10-105(e)(4)(iii), § 10-110(d)(2)); a new conviction during the wait does not restart the clock but makes the original ineligible unless it too becomes expungeable (§ 10-110(d)(1)); and on a PBJ, a new conviction beyond a minor traffic violation within the waiting period defeats it (§ 10-105(e)(4)(i)).
DUI Records Are the Hard Case
A large share of the must-appear docket in La Plata is Transp. § 21-902, and the standard advice — take the PBJ and expunge it later — fails here twice. A PBJ for § 21-902(a) or (b) waits 15 years from discharge from probation; a PBJ for § 21-902(c), (d), (h) or (i) is never expungeable at all. Any conviction beyond a minor traffic violation inside those 15 years, or a second § 21-902 PBJ, takes the first away too, under § 10-105(e)(4)(ii). And because § 21-902 is jailable, it is never a minor traffic violation: it sits inside the unit, so one unreachable DUI count locks up every other charge from the same stop. Weigh all of this at the plea, not after: see expunging a Maryland DUI or DWI, plus Charles County DUI defense and driving while suspended.
Some Records Come Off Without Anyone Filing
Crim. Proc. § 10-105.1 is the least-known rule on the books. A qualifying case is expunged automatically three years after disposition, with no petition, but only where no charge in the case ended in anything other than acquittal, dismissal, not guilty, or nolle prosequi. Nolle prosequi with a treatment requirement is excluded, and so are certain Transportation Article citations you were not required to appear on. One PBJ, stet, or conviction anywhere on the same case number drops the entire file back into the petition track. That is usually the real answer to “my Charles County case was dismissed years ago — why is it still on Maryland Case Search?” More on the mechanics is in Maryland automatic expungement and how the expungement process works.
The State’s Attorney Has 30 Days to Object
Once you file, the court serves your petition on the State’s Attorney for Charles County. Unless an objection is filed within 30 days after service, the court shall pass the expungement order — § 10-105(d)(2) for non-convictions, § 10-110(e)(3) for convictions. Most uncontested petitions end right there. A timely objection means a hearing; on the conviction track the court also notifies each listed victim, who holds the same right to object, and the judge must find on the record that you are eligible, not a risk to public safety, that restitution is paid or you cannot pay it, and that expungement is in the interest of justice (§ 10-110(f)). Unpaid restitution alone sinks a conviction petition. After the order, § 10-105(f) and § 10-110(h) give every custodian 60 days to comply and confirm in writing. Those two periods — 30 plus 60 — are where the commonly quoted “about 90 days” comes from. On the fee: the Maryland Judiciary charges $30 for an eligible guilty disposition (per case, nonrefundable, waivable for inability to pay) and nothing for acquittal, dismissal, PBJ, nolle prosequi, or stet petitions.
Serving La Plata, Waldorf and All of Charles County
Whether your case was handled in the District Court or the Circuit Court in La Plata, what you accept at the trial date decides what is left to expunge later. I represent clients across Waldorf, La Plata, Hughesville, Bryans Road, Bel Alton, Indian Head, Port Tobacco, and the surrounding communities. Expungement rarely stands alone, so I also handle the underlying matters that create these records: Charles County traffic, Maryland criminal defense, and Maryland traffic violations. Nearby counties: Prince George’s, Calvert, Anne Arundel, and Montgomery.
Common Questions
You file a petition in the court that handled your Charles County case. If no one objects within thirty days, the court orders the expungement, and the agencies holding the records have sixty days to comply.
There is no filing fee for a dismissal, acquittal, or probation-before-judgment. Expunging an eligible guilty disposition carries a thirty-dollar fee per case, which can be waived if you cannot afford it.
Yes. The unit rule treats charges from the same incident as one group, so a single ineligible charge can block the others. That is the first thing to review before filing.
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, Crim. Proc. §§ 10-101, 10-105, 10-105.1, 10-106, 10-107, 10-110; Md. Code, Crim. Law § 5-601; Md. Code, Transp. § 21-902. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.