Quick answer: Baltimore City drivers get stopped without a valid license for two very different reasons, and Maryland gives them different charges. Never licensed is Transp. § 16-101 — a jailable misdemeanor, up to 60 days and $500 on a first offense, plus 5 points. A license that merely expired is § 16-115(g) — a $70 preset fine, zero points, payable by mail. If you were charged with the wrong one, that gap is your case.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland traffic cases, including unlicensed-driving charges in the Baltimore City District Court.
Two Different Drivers, Two Different Charges
Maryland prohibits these separately, in two subtitle provisions written for two different problems:
“An individual may not drive or attempt to drive a motor vehicle on any highway in this State unless: (i) The individual holds a driver’s license issued under this title…” — Md. Code, Transp. § 16-101(a)(1)
“An individual may not drive a motor vehicle on any highway in this State if the license issued to him under this title has expired.” — Md. Code, Transp. § 16-115(g)
Section 16-101 is about capacity: you were never granted the privilege. Section 16-115(g) is about currency: you had it and let it lapse. The specific governs the general — the legislature wrote § 16-115(g) for expired licenses precisely so a lapsed renewal would not be handled as though the driver had never qualified. The gap between them is jail.
| Your actual situation | Correct charge | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Never held a license in any state | § 16-101(a)(1) | Jailable. Nothing to restore, so mitigation means starting the licensing process and showing real progress. |
| Maryland license expired | § 16-115(g) | A $70 preset fine, zero points, payable by mail. No jail, and $500 is the ceiling even at trial. |
| Valid license, just not on you | § 16-112(b) and (c) | A different and much smaller charge again. A roadside lookup that fails to find you proves nothing. |
| License suspended or revoked | § 16-303 | Different statute entirely — up to 1 year, $1,000, and 12 points under § 16-402(a)(37). |
| Out-of-state license, recently moved here | Possible exemption, § 16-102(a)(6) | A new resident holding a valid home-state license is exempt for the first 60 days of residency. |
Read the section number on your citation before assuming it is right. See also the statewide overview, driving while suspended and driving while revoked in Baltimore City.
Charged under § 16-101 when your license had merely expired? The charge is wrong, and the gap is enormous. Officers do write § 16-101 for lapsed licenses. Under § 16-101 you are looking at up to 60 days in jail, 5 points, and a mandatory court appearance — the District Court’s preset fine schedule marks that charge “must appear,” so there is no fine to pay even if you wanted to. Section 16-115(g) is a $70 preset fine, zero points, payable by mail. It has no penalty clause of its own, so § 27-101(b) caps it at “a fine not exceeding $500” even if you fight it and lose, and says nothing about imprisonment. Same traffic stop, and § 16-115(g) is plainly the charge you want to be facing — though it is still a conviction if you simply pay it. A driver facing the greater charge when the lesser one fits has a real argument, and it should be made before pleading to anything. Bring the expired license itself: it establishes the lesser offense and defeats the greater one.
What Each Charge Costs
Section 16-101 carries its own penalty in subsection (c); § 16-115 carries none, so § 27-101 supplies it. One more asymmetry: § 16-101(c)(2) enhances a “second or subsequent” offense with no lookback at all, unlike driving while suspended, which needs a prior within 3 years. A § 16-101 conviction from a decade ago still doubles the ceiling.
| Never licensed — § 16-101 | Expired license — § 16-115(g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Preset fine on the citation | None — marked “must appear” | $70 |
| Maximum, first offense | Up to 60 days, $500, or both | Fine up to $500. No jail. |
| Second or subsequent | Up to 1 year, $500, or both | No enhancement provided |
| Lookback on a prior | None — any prior counts | — |
| Penalty source | § 16-101(c), its own clause | § 27-101(b), the general default |
| Points | 5 — § 16-402(a)(18) | 0 — not listed in § 16-402 |
| Resolve by mail? | No — must appear, and § 26-204(b)(2)(iii) bars it | Yes — but paying is a guilty plea |
| Warrant if you skip court | Available at once, § 26-204(c)(1) | Not for 20 days, § 26-204(f) |
The five points are what nobody sees coming. Section 16-402(a)(18) scores “driving while not licensed” at 5 points, and § 16-404(a)(2) makes 5 points in a 2-year period mandatory grounds for an MVA driver improvement program — one conviction lands you on that line. Points run against “the individual,” not a licensee, so a never-licensed driver accrues them too. On the expired side there is nothing to assess: § 16-402 does not list § 16-115 anywhere, and the District Court schedule assigns it zero points.
Those bottom rows are not interpretation. The District Court’s preset fine schedule marks § 16-101(a)(1) “must appear,” and § 26-204(b)(2)(iii) separately bars the mail-in disposition hearing for any offense “punishable by incarceration.” Skipping court on a § 16-101 charge risks an immediate Baltimore City bench warrant.
The $70 does not buy a clean record. Paying a preset fine is a guilty plea, and the MVA logs the conviction as if you had lost at trial. Request a trial instead — under Transp. § 26-204(b)(2) a waiver hearing gives up your right to compel the officer’s appearance — and ask for probation before judgment: under Crim. Proc. § 6-220(i)(3) a completed PBJ is “without judgment of conviction.”
If Your License Expired
This branch is fixable, and fast. A license expires on the licensee’s birth date after a term of up to 8 years for drivers 21 and over, and § 16-115(b) requires the MVA to mail notice 60 days beforehand to your last address of record — which is exactly how most of these happen. Renewal is open within 12 months before expiration under (a)(3), and under (c) the MVA may renew within 1 year after expiration without a driving test.
Renew before your trial date: a current license in hand, plus the right charge on the docket, is what produces dismissals. Longer lapses and re-testing: driving on an expired license in Maryland and Catonsville.
If You Have Never Been Licensed
Here § 16-115(g) cannot help you — no license expired — and § 16-101 applies in full. A first-time applicant works through a learner’s permit, supervised practice and skills testing, none of which finishes before a trial date weeks away. So the goal shifts to showing the problem is being cured: a permit already issued, a booked skills test or enrollment in driver education — evidence with an MVA date, not a promise. That lets the judge see the conduct ending rather than pausing.
Many never-licensed drivers here assume they are permanently ineligible. Often they are not. Under § 16-122 the MVA must issue a license — one not acceptable to federal agencies for official purposes — to an otherwise-eligible applicant who certifies they have no Social Security number and shows that, for each of the preceding 2 years, they filed a Maryland income tax return or were claimed as a dependent by a Maryland filer. It is a real license, and holding one puts you outside § 16-101.
Also, § 16-101(c)(2) has no lookback. Drivers who keep driving between citation and trial arrive facing a second offense, a 1-year ceiling and a less patient judge.
Being Charged in Baltimore City District Court
Your case goes to the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City if the stop happened inside the city line, and that line matters more here than almost anywhere in Maryland. Baltimore City is its own jurisdiction, not part of Baltimore County; a stop a few blocks the other side is a Baltimore County case, different courthouse and different prosecutors.
Baltimore City has more than one District Court location; your trial notice tells you which. On a § 16-101 charge that notice is a summons, not a bill. I appear for clients across the city and in Baltimore City traffic matters.
How I Handle These Cases
- Check the section charged. An expired license written up as § 16-101 is an overcharge, and attacking it is often the whole case.
- Pull the MVA record. It settles which branch you are on and whether a suspension makes this a § 16-303 problem.
- Test the elements. A valid license the officer could not verify roadside, or the § 16-102 60-day new-resident exemption, defeats the count.
- Build the cure. Renewal on the expired branch; a permit, test date or § 16-122 eligibility on the other.
- Appear for you in most Baltimore City District Court traffic matters.
Related Pages
- Baltimore City: driving while suspended · driving while revoked · driving without insurance · reckless driving · MVA hearings
- Unlicensed driving elsewhere: Baltimore County · Towson · Catonsville · Essex · Annapolis · Glen Burnie · Ellicott City · Silver Spring · Hyattsville · Upper Marlboro · Frederick
- Statewide: driving without a license · expired license · Maryland traffic violations
Common Questions
No. They are two different statutes with two different penalties. A driver who has never been licensed is charged under Md. Code, Transp. 16-101, a jailable misdemeanor carrying up to 60 days and a $500 fine on a first offense, plus 5 points under Transp. 16-402(a)(18). A license that merely expired is prohibited by Transp. 16-115(g), which contains no penalty clause of its own, so Transp. 27-101(b) supplies one: a misdemeanor fine not exceeding $500, with no imprisonment. Section 16-402 does not list 16-115 in its point schedule, and on the District Court preset fine schedule that charge is a $70 fine with zero points. Paying that fine is a guilty plea, so a driver who wants no conviction should request a trial rather than mail it in.
It matters a great deal, and it is worth raising before you plead to anything. Section 16-101 is written for a driver who does not hold a license at all, while Transp. 16-115(g) is the specific prohibition the legislature enacted for licenses that have expired. The first carries up to 60 days in jail and 5 points, and the District Court preset fine schedule marks it must-appear, so there is no fine you can simply pay. The second is a $70 preset fine with zero points, capped at $500 by Transp. 27-101(b) even if you fight it and lose. Bring the expired license to court, because it establishes the lesser offense and undercuts the greater one. Do not simply pay the $70, because paying is a guilty plea; ask for probation before judgment under Crim. Proc. 6-220 if you want to avoid a conviction.
Not if you are charged under Transp. 16-101. That offense is punishable by up to 60 days in jail on a first offense, and Transp. 26-204(b)(2)(iii) allows the mail-in request for a disposition hearing in lieu of trial only when the offense is not punishable by incarceration. So you or an attorney appearing for you has to be in the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City on the date in your trial notice, and the court can issue a warrant if nobody appears. An expired-license charge under 16-115(g) is fine-only and can be paid by mail, but paying it is a guilty plea and puts a conviction on your record.
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, 16-115, 16-122, 16-303, 16-402, 16-404, 26-204, 27-101; Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 6-220. Preset fines and must-appear designations are from the District Court of Maryland preset fine schedule DC-CR-090 (Rev. 10/2025) and are subject to revision. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.