Quick answer: A Towson expungement petition is filed in the court that heard your case — for Baltimore County that means the District Court of Maryland location in Towson, or the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, which sits only in Towson. Whether a charge can be cleared turns on how the case ended and on one rule that defeats more petitions than any other: under Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-107, if a single charge from an arrest cannot be expunged, none of the charges in that unit can be.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland criminal and traffic cases in the Towson courthouses.
What Expungement Clears in Towson
Expungement is the removal of eligible court and police records from public inspection. Once it is granted, the entry drops off Maryland Judiciary Case Search, most routine background checks stop showing it, and under § 10-109 an employer or school may not require you to disclose the expunged charge — and cannot fire you or refuse to hire you solely for declining to. Nothing about this is automatic in the ordinary case: a dismissal, acquittal, nolle prosequi, or probation before judgment stays visible in Towson until you file a petition and a judge signs an order.
The one exception is § 10-105.1, which expunges a case automatically three years after disposition — but only where every charge ended in acquittal, dismissal, not guilty, or nolle prosequi. One count that ended any other way, and the automatic route is off the table and you are back to filing. That is why a case a Towson resident thought was closed still turns up years later on a job or housing screen.
Who Qualifies, and When You Can File
Eligibility depends on how the case ended and on the offense itself. Non-convictions are the easiest to clear; convictions follow a fixed waiting ladder set by § 10-110, and each clock runs from the event the statute names, not the day you were charged.
| How the case ended | Earliest you can file | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Acquittal, dismissal, nolle prosequi | 3 years after disposition — or immediately with a written general waiver and release of all tort claims arising from the charge | § 10-105(c)(1) |
| Stet docket | 3 years after the stet | § 10-105(c)(5) |
| Probation before judgment (PBJ) | The later of discharge from probation or 3 years after the PBJ was granted | § 10-105(c)(2)(i) |
| PBJ for DUI or DWI — Transp. § 21-902(a) or (b) | 15 years after discharge from probation | § 10-105(c)(2)(ii) |
| PBJ for § 21-902(c), (d), (h) or (i) | Never — no expungement route exists | § 10-105(a)(3) |
| Conviction on an offense § 10-110 lists | 5 years after completion of the sentence; 7 for second-degree assault, common law battery and most felonies; 10 or 15 for a short list | § 10-110(c) |
| Any of the above, while another criminal case is pending | Not eligible until that case is resolved | § 10-105(e)(4) · § 10-110(d) |
Two details trip people up. First, “completion of the sentence” includes any period of probation, parole, or mandatory supervision under § 10-101(c) — so a year inside plus three on probation does not start the five-year clock until year four. Second, a new conviction during the waiting period disqualifies the original under § 10-110(d)(1) until the new one becomes eligible. The full ladder is on my Maryland expungement waiting periods and which convictions you can expunge pages; the early-filing routes — the tort waiver and the good-cause provision in § 10-105(c)(9) — are covered on my early expungement page.
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 Towson 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.
Why You Usually Cannot Clear Several Charges at Once
A common hope is that charges from the same night can all be swept away together, and that being related makes it easier. The statute works the opposite way. Charges that arise from the same incident, transaction, or set of facts form a single unit, and the unit stands or falls together:
“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.” — Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-107(b)(1)
So a single arrest that produced four charges — three dismissed, one a conviction the statute does not reach — expunges nothing: the three dismissals stay on Case Search because of the fourth. Relation to the same incident is exactly what binds them together, not what frees them. Separate cases from separate dates are judged on their own, so clearing “multiple cases at once” is possible only when each case independently qualifies.
Two things are carved out of the unit in either direction under § 10-107(a): a minor traffic violation and possession of cannabis under Crim. Law § 5-601. But § 10-101(h) defines a minor traffic violation as a nonincarcerable one — so a jailable traffic charge such as driving while suspended, DUI, or reckless driving sits inside the unit and can sink everything charged with it. This is why I pull your whole case history, not just the charge you care about; the reasons a petition fails almost always trace back to this rule.
Which Towson Court Hears Your Petition
Towson is the seat of Baltimore County, and both trial courts sit here. Under § 10-105(b)(1) and § 10-110(b)(1) the petition goes to the court where the proceeding began. A case charged and disposed of at the District Court of Maryland location in Towson is petitioned in that District Court. A case that reached the Circuit Court for Baltimore County — which sits only in Towson — whether by a jury trial prayer, an indictment, or an appeal, is petitioned there. A transferred case is petitioned in the transferee court; an appealed one in the appellate court, which may remand. A case from the District Court in Catonsville or Essex stays a filing at that location, so pinning down where your case actually lived is step one.
After You File in Baltimore County
The court serves the petition on the State’s Attorney for Baltimore County, who has 30 days to object. If nothing is filed in that window the statute is mandatory — the court shall order expungement (§ 10-105(d), § 10-110(e)(3)). On a conviction petition each listed victim is notified and may object as well. An objection means a hearing, and on a conviction the court must find on the record that you are eligible, that expungement is not a risk to public safety, that restitution is paid or cannot be, and that it is in the interest of justice (§ 10-110(f)). Unpaid restitution alone can lose a contested petition.
Once the order is entered, every custodian of the records has 60 days to certify compliance in writing (§ 10-105(f), § 10-110(h)). Those 30 and 60 days are where the commonly quoted “90 days” comes from — and they are the only intervals the statute fixes. Nothing sets a deadline for the court itself to rule. On cost, the Maryland Judiciary charges no fee where the case ended in acquittal, dismissal, PBJ, nolle prosequi, stet, or not criminally responsible, and $30 per case — per case, not per charge in a unit — for an eligible guilty disposition, nonrefundable even if denied and waivable if you cannot pay. The full sequence is on my how the expungement process works page.
Serving Towson, Baltimore County, and All of Maryland
We help clients throughout Towson, across Baltimore County, and in courts statewide. Record-clearing questions often overlap with driving and license issues, so if your matter touches a traffic conviction, see my Baltimore County traffic and criminal defense pages — and remember that an open bench warrant counts as a pending case that blocks every petition you have until it is resolved.
- Baltimore County expungement lawyer — the county-wide page
- Catonsville and Essex — the other two District Court locations in the county
- Baltimore City — a separate jurisdiction · expunging a Maryland DUI or DWI
Common Questions
If your charge is eligible under Maryland law, yes. The petition is filed in the court that heard your Towson case, and the rules are the same statewide. Whether a specific charge qualifies depends on how the case ended and the offense itself.
For most eligible convictions the wait is five years from the completion of the sentence, including any probation. Some offenses run three, seven, ten, or fifteen years, and many dismissals and acquittals can be cleared after three years or right away with a waiver.
Yes. Under the unit rule, charges from the same incident are treated as a group, so a single ineligible charge can stop the rest from being expunged. Sorting out which charges qualify is the first thing to check.
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, 10-107, 10-109, 10-110; Md. Code, Crim. Law § 5-601; Md. Code, Transp. § 21-902. Filing fees from the Maryland Judiciary’s published expungement fee information. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.