Quick answer: If your Harford County case is eligible under Maryland law, you can have it expunged — dismissals, acquittals, nolle prosequi, most stets, and PBJs clear after a set waiting period (often three years, or immediately in some cases), and many convictions clear five years after you finish the sentence. The petition is filed in the Harford County court that heard your case, in Bel Air. The catch that trips up most people is the unit rule: if one charge from the same arrest is not eligible, none of them are.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland criminal and traffic matters, including expungements filed in Harford County District and Circuit Court.
What Expungement Actually Clears
Expungement removes the court and police records of a case from public view. Once the order is entered, the case comes off Maryland Case Search and off the standard background checks that employers, landlords, and licensing boards run. In most situations you can then lawfully answer “no” if you are asked about the charge, with narrow exceptions such as federal security-clearance investigations and certain licensing questions. It is the difference between a past charge that follows you around and one that is genuinely behind you.
Two things surprise people. First, a case that ended without a conviction — dismissed, nolle prossed, or acquitted — does not disappear on its own; it stays visible until someone files to remove it. Second, Maryland does not expunge most records automatically. There is a narrow automatic-expungement track under Crim. Proc. § 10-105.1 for cases where every charge ended in acquittal, dismissal, or nolle prosequi, but it excludes many transportation matters and fails if any single charge in the case ended some other way. That is why dismissed cases so often still show up on Case Search years later, and why a filed petition is usually the reliable path. You can read more on the Maryland automatic expungement rules if your case might qualify on its own.
Which Harford County Cases Qualify
Eligibility turns on two questions: how the case ended, and how much time has passed. Non-convictions clear the fastest. Under Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-105, an acquittal, dismissal, or nolle prosequi can be expunged three years after the disposition — or immediately if you file a written general waiver and release of any tort claims arising from the charge. A stet clears after three years. Probation before judgment clears at the later of your discharge from probation or three years after the PBJ was granted, so ending an 18-month probation early gains you nothing; the three-year floor from the grant date controls.
Convictions are governed by § 10-110, which lists the offenses that can be cleared and sets a waiting period measured from completion of the sentence — a clock that includes any probation, parole, or mandatory supervision, so it usually starts later than people expect. The general wait is five years, but it varies by offense. There is no early-filing or good-cause shortcut for a conviction; the ladder below is the ladder.
| How the case ended | Waiting period before you can file |
|---|---|
| Acquittal, dismissal, or nolle prosequi | 3 years — or immediately with a tort waiver |
| Stet docket | 3 years |
| Probation before judgment (PBJ) | Later of discharge or 3 years from the grant |
| Most eligible convictions | 5 years from completion of sentence |
| Second-degree assault, common-law battery | 7 years |
| Certain felonies (e.g. first/second-degree burglary, felony theft) | 10 years |
| Domestically related crime | 15 years |
Not every disposition is on the list — a PBJ for DUI under Transp. § 21-902, for example, carries its own 15-year rule or is not expungeable at all depending on the subsection. If you want the full breakdown, see which Maryland convictions you can expunge and the detailed expungement waiting periods.
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 Harford 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.
That rule matters most when a Harford County arrest produced a mix of charges. A genuinely minor traffic violation — one that is nonincarcerable, like speeding or an equipment citation — is carved out and does not drag the unit down. But a jailable traffic charge does count: driving while suspended under Transp. § 16-303, driving without a license under § 16-101, reckless driving, and DUI all join the unit and can block an otherwise clean charge from the same day. Sorting out which charges are in the unit is the first thing I check on any Harford County file, because getting it wrong wastes the filing fee and a lot of time.
How the Process Works, and What It Costs
The petition is filed in the court that handled your case — the District Court of Maryland for Harford County (2 South Bond Street) for a District Court matter, the Circuit Court for Harford County (20 West Courtland Street) for a Circuit Court matter, both in Bel Air, the county seat. If your case moved between courts or was appealed, the venue rules in § 10-110 tell you where it goes.
Once you file, the State’s Attorney — and any victim who is entitled to notice — has 30 days to object. If no one objects and the case is eligible, the court shall pass the order; it is not discretionary. Every agency holding the records then has 60 days to remove them and confirm in writing. That is where the informal “90 days” figure comes from: 30 days to object plus 60 to comply. If the State does object, the court holds a hearing, and the judge must find that both the person and the conviction are eligible, that any restitution has been paid, and that expungement serves the interest of justice. Unpaid restitution alone will sink a petition. The step-by-step is laid out in how the Maryland expungement process works.
On cost: the Maryland Judiciary charges nothing to expunge an acquittal, dismissal, nolle prosequi, stet, or PBJ. There is a $30 filing fee for an eligible guilty disposition, charged per case rather than per charge, nonrefundable even if the petition is denied, and waivable if you cannot afford it. The bigger expense is almost always a mistake — an incorrect waiting period, a missed charge in the unit, or a filing in the wrong court — which is exactly what careful review is meant to prevent.
Serving Clients Throughout Harford County
I handle expungements for clients across Harford County, whether the case was heard in Bel Air or started with a stop in Aberdeen, Havre de Grace, Edgewood, Abingdon, Joppatowne, Fallston, Forest Hill, Jarrettsville, or Perryman. Because many Harford County records involve traffic or licensing matters, the work often overlaps with what a Harford County traffic lawyer deals with day to day — and if your real problem is an outstanding warrant rather than an old record, a Harford County bench warrant lawyer can address that first.
The rules are the same statewide, but applying them to your record — pulling your full history, mapping the units, and confirming each waiting period — is where cases are won or lost. One conversation is usually enough to tell you what can be cleared now, what becomes eligible later, and what is blocking it.
Common Questions
If your charge is eligible under Maryland law, yes. The petition is filed in the court that heard your Harford County 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. §§ 10-105, 10-105.1, 10-107, 10-110. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.