Quick answer: Whether a Prince George’s County case can be expunged turns on what was charged alongside it. Under Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 10-107, every charge from one incident is a unit, and one charge you are not entitled to expunge blocks all the rest. Two things are carved out: a nonincarcerable traffic violation and a cannabis possession count.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland traffic and criminal cases, plus the expungements that follow them.
You cannot expunge only the charge that bothers you. People ask about one embarrassing count and leave out the rest of the charging document, because in their mind the other counts “went away.” The statute asks the eligibility question of the whole unit, and one count that cannot be expunged takes the others with it. The Judiciary’s fee on a conviction petition is $30 per case, nonrefundable even if it is denied.
One Arrest Is One Unit
Prince George’s County arrests rarely produce one charge. A single incident generates a lead charge, a lesser included version of it, and companion counts the facts support. Invisible until years later, when you want the record gone — and then decisive.
“(a)(1) In this subtitle, if two or more charges, other than one for a minor traffic violation or possession of cannabis under § 5-601 of the Criminal Law Article, arise from the same incident, transaction, or set of facts, they are considered to be a unit. … (b)(1) 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
That runs opposite to how most people read it. Three counts dismissed plus one conviction not on the eligible list does not mean three come off and one stays — it means nothing comes off. The conviction statute repeats the rule at § 10-110(d)(3), so it governs either petition, and it is the most common reason a petition fails: why a Maryland record will not expunge.
The Minor Traffic Count in the Same Arrest Is Carved Out
This is the exception worth knowing in a county where so many criminal charges begin as a traffic stop. Section 10-107(a)(2) puts a minor traffic violation from the same incident outside the unit, and (b)(2) adds that its disposition does not affect any right to expungement of a charge in the unit. The speeding citation written that night neither blocks the criminal expungement nor is blocked by it.
The trap is the definition. Under § 10-101(h) a “minor traffic violation” is a nonincarcerable violation of the Maryland Vehicle Law. A traffic charge carrying possible jail time is therefore not minor: it sits inside the unit and can block everything else from that arrest. That covers DUI under § 21-902, driving while suspended under § 16-303, driving without a license under § 16-101, and reckless driving under § 21-901.1(a). A speeding count beside a criminal charge is harmless; a driving-while-suspended count is not.
| Charged in the same incident | Part of the unit? | Effect on the rest |
|---|---|---|
| Speeding, most equipment and registration citations — nonincarcerable | No — § 10-107(a)(2) | Cannot block the criminal counts, and is not rescued by them |
| Possession of cannabis, Crim. Law § 5-601 | No — § 10-107(a)(2) | Handled on its own track |
| DUI, driving while suspended, driving without a license, reckless driving | Yes — jail is possible, so not “minor” | Sits in the unit and can block every other count |
| Any misdemeanor or felony count from the same arrest | Yes | One ineligible count blocks every other count |
The Waiting Ladder, in Summary
Two statutes do the work: § 10-105 for non-convictions, § 10-110 for the convictions that qualify. Conviction waits run from completion of the sentence, which § 10-101(c) defines to include probation, parole and mandatory supervision — not from sentencing day. People miscount by years.
| How the case ended | Earliest filing | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Acquittal, dismissal, nolle prosequi | 3 years after disposition — or immediately with a written general waiver and release of tort claims | § 10-105(c)(1) |
| Stet, or compromise under Crim. Law § 3-207 | 3 years | § 10-105(c)(5) |
| Probation before judgment | The later of discharge from probation or 3 years after probation was granted | § 10-105(c)(2)(i) |
| PBJ for DUI or DWI under Transp. § 21-902(a) or (b) | 15 years after discharge from probation | § 10-105(c)(2)(ii) |
| Eligible conviction — general rule | 5 years after completion of the sentence | § 10-110(c)(1) |
| Second-degree assault, common law battery, most felonies | 7 years | § 10-110(c)(2), (4) |
| Crim. Law §§ 6-202(a), 6-203, felony theft under § 7-104 | 10 years | § 10-110(c)(6) |
| Offense classified as a domestically related crime under § 6-233 | 15 years | § 10-110(c)(3) |
Two rules override the ladder. A new conviction during the waiting period makes the original ineligible under § 10-110(d)(1) “unless the new conviction becomes eligible for expungement” — the clock does not merely restart. And nobody qualifies while a defendant in a pending criminal case, so one open matter freezes the rest. See which convictions you can expunge and early expungement.
The State’s Attorney Gets 30 Days to Object
The court serves the petition on the State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County, and the window is the same in both statutes: unless an objection is filed within 30 days after service, § 10-105(d)(2) says the court shall pass the order. Section 10-110(e)(3) sets the same 30 days on a conviction petition and adds that each listed victim must be notified and may also object.
A timely objection means a hearing, and what happens there differs. On a non-conviction petition the court orders expungement if it finds you are entitled to it. On a conviction petition, § 10-110(f)(2) requires the judge to find and state on the record five things, including that you are not a risk to public safety, that expungement is in the interest of justice, and that any court-ordered restitution is paid or you cannot pay it. Unpaid restitution sinks a petition on its own. No lawyer controls a State’s Attorney’s judgment; counsel’s job is to give no reason to object.
Timing has two statutory halves: the 30-day objection window, then 60 days after the order is entered for every custodian to comply and confirm in writing (§ 10-105(f), § 10-110(h)). That is where the commonly quoted “90 days” comes from — but no statute caps the process end to end, so treat it as an expectation, not a rule.
A Few Cases Clear Themselves — Most Do Not
Since October 1, 2021, § 10-105.1 requires records to be expunged automatically 3 years after disposition if 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, as are Transportation Article violations you were not required to appear on.
Notice the whole-case condition — the unit rule’s all-or-nothing logic again. One stet, one PBJ, one guilty count anywhere in the case and it does not apply. That is why a dismissed Prince George’s case can still sit on Maryland Case Search years later while an identical-sounding one is gone. Nothing will happen until a petition is filed; a Maryland criminal defense lawyer can pull the docket and say which case is in which bucket.
Each Case Is Its Own Petition
Expungement is filed case by case, in the court where the proceeding began (§ 10-105(b)(1), § 10-110(b)(1)) — or the court it was transferred to, or the appellate court on appeal. That can mean more than one building here: the District Court sits in Upper Marlboro and Hyattsville, and the Circuit Court keeps its own file. Three old cases can mean three petitions.
Fees follow the same logic. Per the Maryland Judiciary there is no charge to petition on an acquittal, dismissal, PBJ, nolle prosequi, stet, or not-criminally-responsible disposition. On an eligible guilty disposition it is $30 per case — not per charge within a unit — nonrefundable even if denied, waivable if you cannot afford it. Check the disposition first: a DUI PBJ follows different rules from every other PBJ.
I handle expungements countywide — Upper Marlboro, Hyattsville, Largo, Bowie, Greenbelt, College Park, Laurel, Oxon Hill, District Heights, Suitland — usually alongside the Prince George’s traffic or Maryland DUI matter that created the record. Elsewhere: Montgomery, Anne Arundel, Howard, Baltimore and Frederick counties.
Common Questions
Almost certainly not on their own. Criminal Procedure 10-107 treats every charge arising from the same incident as a unit, and if you are not entitled to expungement of one charge in the unit, you are not entitled to expungement of any other charge in it. So a single count that cannot be expunged blocks the three that were dropped. The exceptions are a minor traffic violation and a cannabis possession count under Criminal Law 5-601, which the statute keeps outside the unit entirely.
No. A minor traffic violation charged out of the same incident is not part of the unit under Criminal Procedure 10-107(a)(2), and its disposition does not affect any right to expungement of the other charges. But the definition matters: Criminal Procedure 10-101(h) makes a minor traffic violation a nonincarcerable one. A traffic charge that carries possible jail time is not minor, so it stays inside the unit and can block everything else. That includes DUI, driving while suspended, driving without a license, and reckless driving.
The office can object, and the window is statutory. Under Criminal Procedure 10-105(d)(2), unless the State’s Attorney files an objection within 30 days after the petition is served, the court shall pass the expungement order. Section 10-110(e)(3) applies the same 30 days to a conviction petition and also gives listed victims notice and the right to object. A timely objection means a hearing rather than an automatic denial, and on a conviction petition the judge must make specific findings on the record before granting it.
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, 6-233, 7-104; Md. Code, Transp. §§ 16-303, 21-902. Filing fees per the Maryland Judiciary. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.