A criminal conviction can create difficulties when applying for a job or an apartment because employers and landlords often ask about a person’s criminal record.
In many instances, the severity and the age of the criminal conviction doesn’t matter. Online retail giant Amazon was sued by a group of drivers who said they were fired when a background check showed criminal charges that were minor and 10 years old.
The best way to handle such matters is to get the criminal record expunged. Expungement makes it easier for ex-offenders to qualify for jobs, housing and education. Expunged records, whether criminal or civil, generally don’t show up on a background check.
Expungement is the process of asking the court to remove certain court and police records from public view. It mostly applies to records that did not result in a conviction, but several types of convictions can be expunged.
Maryland law provides protections for those who get their civil or criminal records expunged. Employers and educational institutions cannot require that job applicants, employees or students disclose expunged information about civil citations and criminal charges in an application, interview or through other means under Maryland law.
In fact, recent changes in Maryland law such as the decriminalization of marijuana charges means that some drug charges are no longer criminal offenses. In addition, just a few years ago, Maryland lawmakers, expanded the type of crimes that can be expunged. An Ocean City expungement lawyer can provide more details.
Maryland law also forbids employers from retaliating against a person who refuses to disclose information about criminal charges or civil offenses that have been expunged. So, if you refuse to provide information about expunged civil or criminal records to your employer or to the organization to which you have applied for a job, that refusal cannot be used as a reason not to hire you or to terminate your employment.
Another benefit of expungement is that, after the criminal record is expunged and you are asked if you have any criminal convictions, you can legally answer “no,” according to information available from the Maryland courts.
However, there are instances where expunged information might show up in a background or record check.
If a private database has information about your public record, expungement will not remove it from that database.
In Maryland like most states, state expungements mean that no publicly available information will show up on a state website such as Maryland Judiciary Case Search. However, Maryland does not have authority over federal governmental organizations such as the FBI. A Maryland case that is expunged could and likely will appear on an FBI record and could appear on a background check that uses federal records as part of its search.
Maronick Law LLC is open during the pandemic and will continue to meet your Glen Burnie, Annapolis, Baltimore, Essex, Ocean City, Towson, White Marsh civil and criminal record expungement needs. An Ocean City expungement attorney can help you to get your record cleared. The consultation is free.
We can meet with you remotely if you have access to Zoom. You can contact Thomas Maronick on his cellphone at 202.288.0167, the law office at 410.402.5571 or through the website for a free consultation.