Imagine you’re at the Motor Vehicle Administration, ready to renew your driver’s license. You’ve done everything right — you’ve paid your fees, taken the test, and gathered the necessary documents. But then, just as you’re about to get your new license, the clerk tells you that because you missed an appointment for a routine check-in or forgot to submit one minor form, you cannot renew your license. Despite all your efforts, that one small error now stands between you and the ability to legally drive.

That’s the experience many Maryland residents face when they’re barred from clearing their criminal records due to technical violations during probation or parole. Something as trivial as missing a meeting or forgetting to report a change of address becomes the reason they’re denied a fresh start. Just like being denied a license renewal over forgetting to submit one minor form, these individuals are blocked from redemption that values perfection over rehabilitation.

This issue originated from a 2022 case, In re Expungement Petition of Abhishek I. In that case, the Maryland Appellate Court upheld a lower court’s decision to deny Abhishek’s expungement petition. In 2008, Abhishek had pleaded guilty to stealing under $500 worth of property and received a one-year suspended jail sentence with supervised probation. While on probation, Abhishek was caught with cannabis and spent four days in jail, resulting in his probation being closed “unsatisfactorily.” Even though Abhishek completed his sentence and served a punitive sanction for his violation, the court found him ineligible for expungement, ruling he did not complete it “satisfactorily” under state law.

While the case may seem like an outlier, it reflects a broader problem. As many as 43% of all probationers or parolees in Maryland may be disqualified from seeking expungement because they did not “satisfactorily” complete supervision — often due to minor, non-criminal violations. These infractions, while small, become a significant barrier standing between individuals and a second chance. In a system established to encourage rehabilitation, such technicalities should not erase months and years of progress toward sentence completion.

The law is especially unjust when you consider that someone who serves a full jail sentence is more likely to qualify for expungement than someone given probation. For example, a person who serves one year in jail for misdemeanor theft may be deemed to have “satisfactorily completed” their sentence and be eligible for record sealing. Meanwhile, another person who receives a suspended sentence with probation, but commits a technical violation, is disqualified. Thankfully, lawmakers have recognized the absurdity of this framework and stepped up to rectify it.

During this most recent legislative session, Senate Bill 432 was introduced by Sen. Bill Ferguson at the request of Gov. Wes Moore’s administration. This bill, which was recently signed into law, will change expungement eligibility from requiring “satisfactory completion of the sentence” to simply “completion of the sentence.” That subtle but critical change eliminates subjective judgments about whether supervision was “satisfactory” and instead focuses on whether the person fulfilled the legal terms of their sentence.

The impact could be profound. People who have completed their sentences but remain burdened by a criminal record often struggle to find employment, secure housing, or access education. These barriers often perpetuate a cycle of hardship that hinders full reintegration into society, increases the risk of recidivism and undermines public safety. This small revision to state law will provide big changes for individuals who complete parole and probation to access the full redemption provided by record sealing.

This change will bring real progress for thousands of Marylanders who’ve done their time and are ready for a second chance. Expungement is about more than clearing a record — it’s about turning one’s life around and dignity. If we want individuals to learn from their mistakes and contribute to society, we should not deny them a fresh start over a minor misstep. Senate Bill 432 will finally let people who’ve paid their debt walk away — license in hand — with the clean slate they’ve earned.

Robert Melvin (RMelvin@rstreet.org) is the Northeast Region director of state government affairs for the R Street Institute.