Quick answer: Most people charged with driving without a license in Annapolis already hold one — just not a Maryland license. Md. Code, Transp. § 16-101 does not ask whether you can drive; it asks whether an exemption in § 16-102 still covers you. A new Maryland resident is exempt for the first 60 days of residency and not a day longer; a visitor only while the out-of-state license is with them. When the condition fails the offense is complete — a misdemeanor carrying up to 60 days in jail, a $500 fine and 5 points, heard in the District Court of Maryland for Anne Arundel County.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland traffic cases. Most § 16-101 clients I see in Anne Arundel County were licensed somewhere — just not here, and not that day.
The 60 days is a residency clock, not a grace period that starts when you get the ticket. § 16-102(a)(6) exempts a new resident “during the first 60 days of residency.” The clock starts when you establish residency here — the lease, the job, the address you handed the trooper — not when you first learned the rule existed. On day 61 a perfectly valid Virginia, Delaware or Pennsylvania license stops authorizing you to drive in Maryland, and nothing about your driving has to change for the violation to be complete. Going to the MVA after the citation and getting properly licensed is worth doing, and I ask judges to weigh it. It does not erase the charge.
Why This Charge Looks Different in Annapolis
Annapolis has no ordinary local driving population. US 50 and Rowe Boulevard carry visitors from four or five states; Naval Academy and Fort Meade families are domiciled elsewhere; St. John’s and Anne Arundel Community College draw nonresident students; people arrive monthly for jobs in the state capital. Each of those drivers is exempt from Maryland’s licensing requirement under a different subsection of § 16-102, on different conditions — and no officer at the roadside can untangle which one applies, or when someone became a Maryland resident. So the citation gets written and the court sorts it out.
If your case is instead the never-licensed or long-lapsed kind, start with the statewide Maryland driving without a license page; Catonsville covers expired licenses and renewal lapses, Baltimore City the never-licensed charge.
Who Is Exempt Under § 16-102 — and the Condition That Fails
Each exemption is conditional. The condition is where cases are won and lost:
| Who | § 16-102 | The condition people miss |
|---|---|---|
| Nonresident holding a valid license from the state where they live | (a)(9) | You must have the license with you, it must cover the class of vehicle you are driving, and you must be at least the age Maryland requires for that class |
| Nonresident of the United States on a foreign license | (a)(10) | Valid license from your country of residence, with you, right class — and the vehicle may not be a commercial motor vehicle |
| New Maryland resident | (a)(6) | Only during the first 60 days of residency, and only if the license from your former state is valid and covers that class |
| Active-duty uniformed service member, and any dependent | (a)(7) | The license issued by your state of domicile must be in your possession |
| Service member returning from active duty outside the US, and dependents | (a)(8) | Runs for 30 days after returning, and only on a license issued by the armed forces overseas |
| Nonresident student at an accredited Maryland or bordering-state school, or a medical intern here | (a)(5) | Your home state must extend the same privilege to Maryland residents, and you must have your home-state license with you |
Read the possession language. For a visitor, a service member and a student, the license must be with the driver — leave it in a hotel room or a sea bag and the exemption fails on its face. The new-resident exemption is worded differently: it requires only that you have a valid former-state license, not that you carry it. Worth arguing.
The 60-Day Clock for New Maryland Residents
The 60 days is not a duty to convert your license. It is an exemption that expires:
“The licensing requirements of this title do not apply to: … (6) A new resident of this State during the first 60 days of residency, if: (i) The individual has a valid license issued by the state of which the individual formerly was a resident; (ii) The license authorizes the individual to drive in the state of former residence vehicles of the class the individual is driving in this State; and (iii) The individual is at least the same age as that required for a resident to drive a vehicle of the same class the individual is driving in this State.” — Md. Code, Transp. § 16-102(a)(6)
So the State’s real question is when your residency began — a date provable both ways: the lease, a start date at work, a car registered here.
One trap catches new residents repeatedly. Under Article V of the Driver License Compact, Md. Code, Transp. § 16-703, Maryland may not license an applicant whose license in another party state is currently suspended. Leave an unpaid ticket behind and the MVA cannot license you here until it clears — while the 60 days keep running.
What a Conviction Costs
| Charge | Maximum jail | Maximum fine | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| § 16-101, first offense | 60 days | $500 | 5 |
| § 16-101, second or subsequent offense | 1 year | $500 | 5 |
| § 16-112 — license not with you or not displayed on demand | None | $500 under § 27-101(b) | Not listed in § 16-402 |
Jail exposure jumps from 60 days to a year on a second offense while the fine does not move. Jail-heavy and fine-light is why this is never a ticket. The points do more damage than clients expect, too: Md. Code, Transp. § 16-402(a)(18) assesses 5 points for “driving while not licensed,” and under § 16-404(a) 5 points in two years requires an MVA driver improvement program, 8 brings a suspension and 12 a revocation. One conviction takes a clean record from zero to that threshold in a single step.
Licensed drivers are sometimes charged under § 16-101 when § 16-112 — failing to have the license with you and display it on demand — is what actually happened. Moving the case to that section removes the jail exposure and the 5 points at once, since § 16-112 carries only the general misdemeanor fine under § 27-101(b).
If You Live Out of State
You cannot mail this one in, and the conviction will not stay in Maryland. The State sorts traffic charges into “payable” and “must appear,” and § 16-101 is must-appear: no preset fine to send, just a trial date in the mail. Article III of the Driver License Compact requires Maryland to report the conviction to your home state’s licensing authority, and Article IV gives only four categories — vehicular manslaughter, drunk or drugged driving, a felony committed with a vehicle, failing to stop and render aid — the same effect at home as if they had happened there. For everything else, including § 16-101:
“As to any other convictions, reported pursuant to Article III, the licensing authority in the home state shall record the conviction on the individual’s driving record, but may not assess points for the conviction.” — Driver License Compact, Article IV(b), Md. Code, Transp. § 16-703
The 5 points do not travel; the conviction does, and insurers read the record, not the point column. Plan on the trip, too — on a charge carrying jail, Anne Arundel judges usually want the driver present.
Where the Case Is Heard — and What Skipping It Costs
Your case goes to the District Court of Maryland for Anne Arundel County, which sits in Annapolis and in Glen Burnie. Venue follows the stop, not your address: a driver stopped on Forest Drive or West Street answers in Annapolis, one stopped toward BWI or on I-97 usually in Glen Burnie. I appear in both, for Severna Park, Arnold, Edgewater, Crofton, Odenton, Pasadena and Parole drivers and for visitors — see county unlicensed driving and county traffic defense.
Missing the date is the worst outcome available, and the most common among people who live elsewhere. A failure to appear brings a bench warrant in Annapolis and notice to the MVA, which suspends the driving privilege. Your next stop is then not a § 16-101 case but driving while suspended under § 16-303 — up to a year in jail on a first offense, and locally my Annapolis suspended and revoked license pages.
How I Work These Cases
- Prove the exemption with orders, enrollment records or the license itself — documents beat testimony.
- Fight over the residency date. When the case turns on day 60 versus day 61, the State’s date usually comes off a form, not off the day residency began.
- Move it to § 16-112 where you were licensed but not carrying it, get you licensed before the trial date, and attack the stop where there is something to attack.
Speeding, insurance or registration charges on the same citation get handled together: Maryland traffic violations.
Common Questions
Sixty days. Md. Code, Transp. 16-102(a)(6) exempts a new resident from Maryland’s licensing requirement during the first 60 days of residency, but only if the license from your former state is valid, covers the class of vehicle you are driving, and you meet the Maryland minimum age for that class. The clock runs from when you establish residency here, not from when you visit the MVA. After day 60 the exemption is gone and driving is chargeable under Transp. 16-101, a must-appear misdemeanor carrying up to 60 days in jail and 5 points.
The conviction will. Maryland reports it to your home state’s licensing authority under Article III of the Driver License Compact, Md. Code, Transp. 16-703. For an offense like driving without a license, Article IV(b) directs the home state to record the conviction on your driving record but not to assess points for it, so the Maryland 5 points do not transfer as points. The conviction stays visible to insurers and to any state where you later apply for a license. It is also a must-appear charge, so it cannot be resolved by mail.
No, and the difference is large. Md. Code, Transp. 16-112 requires you to have your license with you and to display it to a uniformed officer who demands it. It carries no jail, only the general misdemeanor fine of up to $500 under Transp. 27-101(b), and it is not in the point schedule at Transp. 16-402. Transp. 16-101 is the charge for driving without licensing authority at all, and it carries jail and 5 points. Officers sometimes write the wrong one, and correcting it is frequently the whole case.
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, 16-102, 16-112, 16-303, 16-402, 16-404, 16-703, 27-101. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.