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RULE 4-512. DISPOSITION OF EXPUNGED RECORDS

West's Annotated Code of MarylandMaryland Rules

West's Annotated Code of Maryland
Maryland Rules
Title 4. Criminal Causes
Chapter 500. Expungement of Records
MD Rules, Rule 4-512
RULE 4-512. DISPOSITION OF EXPUNGED RECORDS
Disposition of expunged records shall be as follows:
(a) Removal. The original of all court files and records ordered to be expunged and any unitized microform of record shall be removed from their usual and customary filing or storage location.
(b) Sealing--Unsealing. The original case file, and all other court records in the clerk's custody relating or referring to the action or proceeding, including any unitized microform of records and certificates of compliance, shall be sealed in a manila envelope on which the docket or case file number, and a clerk's Certificate of Expungement and Caution, shall be endorsed or stamped as follows:
CERTIFICATE OF EXPUNGEMENT AND CAUTION
I HEREBY CERTIFY that this sealed envelope contains the case file relating to the action or proceeding docketed or filed under the above mentioned Docket or Case File Number, which records have been expunged pursuant to an Order of Court dated the day of __________ (month), __________ (year).
CAUTION: This envelope is not to be unsealed or the contents or any part thereof disclosed to any person except pursuant to a written Order of Court, under penalty of a fine of up to $1,000.00, imprisonment for up to one year, or both, and to dismissal from employment, as provided by Section 10-108 of the Criminal Procedure Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
DATED this ....... day of
............,
.......
(month)
(year)
 
Clerk/Deputy Clerk
Sealed expunged records may be unsealed on written order of court on good cause shown, and the court may by order permit access to expunged records in the interest of justice.
(c) Alphabetical Listing. A separate alphabetical listing of names of persons whose court records have been expunged shall be maintained by the clerk. The listing shall contain a reference to the docket or case file number of the action or proceeding in which expungement was ordered.
(d) Notices--General Waivers and Releases. Notices and General Waivers and Releases shall be maintained by the law enforcement agency or the clerk, as the case may be, in a denied access area, until the expiration of any applicable statute of limitations, after which time they may be destroyed by shredding.
Cross reference: Code, Criminal Procedure Article, § 10-103 (b).
(e) Storage in Denied Access Area on Premises--Prohibition on Transfer. All expunged records shall be filed and maintained by the clerk in numerical sequence by docket or case file number, together with the Index of Expunged Records, in one or more locked filing cabinets to be located on the premises of the clerk's office but in a separate secure area to which the public and other persons having no legitimate reason for being there are denied access. Expunged records shall not be transferred to any Hall of Records facility.
Cross reference: Code, Criminal Procedure Article, § 10-101 (e).
(f) Minimum Period of Retention. Expunged records shall be retained by the clerk for a minimum period of three years after the date the order for expungement was entered. Expunged case files in multiple defendant cases shall be retained by the clerk until the prison terms, if any, of all co-defendants convicted in the action have been served.
(g) Destruction Method and Schedule. Upon the expiration of the minimum retention period provided in section (f) of this Rule, and unless otherwise ordered by the court, expunged records may be destroyed by the clerk by shredding or other method of complete destruction. Upon destruction of the expunged records, the name of the person whose court records have been destroyed shall be deleted from the listing maintained under section (c) of this Rule. Destruction of expunged records shall promptly be reported to the Records Management Division of the Hall of Records Commission on an appropriate destruction schedule.
Source: This Rule is derived from former Rule EX11.

Credits

[Adopted April 6, 1984, eff. July 1, 1984. Amended June 8, 1998, eff. Oct. 1, 1998; May 9, 2000, eff. July 1, 2000; Jan. 8, 2002, eff. Feb. 1, 2002; Oct. 31, 2002, eff. Jan. 1, 2003.]
MD Rules, Rule 4-512, MD R CR Rule 4-512
Current with amendments received through February 1, 2024. Some sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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