Quick answer: A Howard County expungement petition is filed in the court that heard your case — the District Court or the Circuit Court for Howard County, both of which sit in Ellicott City, the county seat — not the courthouse nearest where you live now. Whether the record actually clears 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 matters in the Howard County courts. Statewide eligibility is laid out on my convictions you can expunge page; this one covers how it plays out in Ellicott City, Columbia, and the rest of the county.
Which Howard County Court Gets Your Petition
Both Crim. Proc. § 10-105(b)(1) and § 10-110(b)(1) require filing “in the court in which the proceeding began.” Howard County is compact: the District Court of Maryland for Howard County and the Circuit Court for Howard County both sit in Ellicott City, the county seat. The District Court handles most misdemeanor and traffic matters; the Circuit Court handles felonies and appeals from the District Court. What decides the correct courthouse is your case paperwork, not your home address — a case heard in Ellicott City is petitioned in Ellicott City even if you have since moved to Columbia, Laurel, or out of state.
| Where the case was heard | Where the petition goes | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| District Court for Howard County | The District Court, in Ellicott City | § 10-105(b)(1) / § 10-110(b)(1) |
| Circuit Court for Howard County | The Circuit Court, in Ellicott City | § 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 to another court | 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) |
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 Howard 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.
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 because they happened 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 Howard County traffic stop or arrest 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. Only 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 — and one of those can lock up every other charge from the same stop.
What Clears, and How Long You Wait
How your case ended decides both whether you can file and when. Non-convictions — dismissals, acquittals, and many PBJs — are the easiest to clear. A set list of convictions in § 10-110(a) is also expungeable, but only after a waiting period, and for a conviction the clock starts at completion of the sentence, which under § 10-101(c) includes any probation, parole, or mandatory supervision. That means the wait 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 listed in § 10-110(a) | 5 years as the general rule; 3, 7, 10 or 15 years 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 immediate waiver-and-release shortcut in early expungement. Three disqualifiers catch people who are otherwise inside their window: you cannot file while you are a defendant in any pending criminal case; 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 inside the waiting period defeats it (§ 10-105(e)(4)).
Some Records Come Off Without Anyone Filing
Crim. Proc. § 10-105.1 is the least-known rule on the books, and it answers the question I hear most: “my case was dismissed years ago — why is it still on Maryland Case Search?” 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. A single PBJ, stet, or conviction anywhere on the same case number drops the entire file back into the petition track — which is exactly why so many “dismissed” Howard County cases never disappear on their own. More on the mechanics is in Maryland automatic expungement and how the expungement process works.
Filing, Objections, and the Real Timeline
Once you file, the court serves your petition on the State’s Attorney for Howard 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 can sink a conviction petition. After the order is entered, § 10-105(f) and § 10-110(h) give every record 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 Ellicott City, Columbia, and All of Howard County
Whether your case was handled in the District Court or the Circuit Court in Ellicott City, what you accept at the trial date decides what is left to expunge later — so the smartest move is often to plan the expungement before the plea, not after. I represent clients across Columbia, Ellicott City, Elkridge, Laurel, Clarksville, Fulton, Jessup, Savage, Woodstock, Highland, and the surrounding communities. Because expungement rarely stands alone, I also handle the underlying matters that create these records: Howard County traffic, Howard County DUI, Maryland criminal defense, and Maryland traffic violations. DUI records are the hard case — see expunging a Maryland DUI or DWI before you plead.
Working in a specific town? Start with my Ellicott City expungement lawyer page. Nearby counties: Anne Arundel, Baltimore County, Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Carroll.
Clearing your record can open doors. Expungement removes eligible entries from Maryland Case Search and routine background checks, and in most situations you may then legally decline to disclose the record on job, housing, and school applications. One conversation is usually enough to tell you what qualifies now, what qualifies later, and what cannot be reached — call 301-563-9575 or use the online contact form.
Common Questions
Anyone whose Howard County charge qualifies under Maryland law. Dismissals, acquittals, not-guilty verdicts, and many probation-before-judgment outcomes are eligible, and a set list of convictions can be expunged after a waiting period.
Not always. Some clean cases are expunged automatically after three years, but if any charge in the case ended another way, the automatic route does not apply and you have to file a petition.
The most common blocker is the unit rule: if one charge from the same incident is not eligible, none of them can be expunged. A pending case or a new conviction during the waiting period can also disqualify you.
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, 10-110; 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.