The Maryland Clean Slate Act was approved by the state Senate for the first time since its introduction this year, but some last-minute changes left the bill sitting in the House of Delegates when the legislature adjourned last week.

Clean Slate legislation has been passed in 13 states and DC, generally referring to laws that automatically seal eligible records for people who have completed their sentence and remain crime-free.

Initially, Maryland’s version of the bill would have automatically expunged records with eligible, non-violent low-level misdemeanors after seven years have passed and would have expunged non-conviction and arrest records after three years have passed.

Expungement would have completely destroyed those records, however, the Senate altered the bill to only seal eligible records from public view.

Executive Director of Shore Legal Access — a nonprofit that connects Eastern Shore residents in need of legal representation with volunteer or low-cost attorneys — Meredith Girard says while her organization would like to see automatic expungement, automatic record-sealing would still be “very effective.”

“When they have [justice records] hidden from public view, it allows people to get better housing, better jobs,” Girard said. “And when people have housing and jobs and can meet their basic needs, there is very, very little chance that they're going to go back to committing some type of crime.”

Marylanders with eligible records can currently petition the courts for expungement, but according to the Paper Prisons Project, only 2 percent of eligible residents have successfully utilized this system.

Girard says the petition process can be confusing, costly and time-consuming, often deterring justice-involved individuals from pursuing it.

It’s estimated that over one million Marylanders have some sort of criminal justice record and the Clean Slate Act would result in the full record clearance for over 407,000 residents.

Leslie McMillan, co-chair of Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD), says she’s seen firsthand how criminal records can keep justice-involved individuals from receiving a second chance.

“It's like they're serving a second sentence. They serve their time, they’re home, they're in society, they're trying to make the best of it, making positive changes and still being held back because of barriers,” McMillan said. “If we continue to hold them back because of criminal records, once they've made changes, it's just an injustice for them.”

The Office of the Maryland Attorney General submitted informational testimony on the bill that appeared in favor of electronic record-shielding, noting that “criminal records create significant obstacles to stable futures for justice-involved individuals and their families.”

But the Maryland States Attorneys’ Association testified in opposition, arguing the legislation “is impossible to carry out” and keeps the state and victims from being able to oppose an expungement.

But Girard refutes this, explaining she’s filed many expungement cases, and as long as the individual checks the right boxes, it’s a done deal.

“I've never had one denied. And so, this is not a process that the victims or that the state's attorneys necessarily — once somebody meets the criteria, it would have to be a pretty high bar for it to be denied at that point,” she said.

McMillan feels opposition to expungement also has to do with stigma around giving justice-involved individuals second chances.

“I think one of the core things is fear. People look at the person, they don't see a changed person, a person who made a mistake, has paid their debt to society, has returned home and has made positive changes in their life,” she said, explaining that’s why she focuses her advocacy work on storytelling.

“One of the most effective ways that we've been educating legislators and employers is by people who have made the changes telling their story,” McMillan said. “We're going to continue talking in our communities, to employers, talking to people who have criminal records, growing in numbers, so that people can continue to tell their stories during session and also off session to legislators so that they truly understand what we're trying to achieve.”

As far as why the bill didn’t make it to the finish line in the House of Delegates, Girard and McMillan both believe it came down to time.

The Senate passed their amended version of the bill on March 20, giving the House only three weeks to review the changes and try to get the bill through three rounds of voting.

“I think people had questions, especially because of those moving parts with the technology at the judiciary, they had questions about what this was going to look like on the implementation,” Girard said, referring to ongoing technology upgrades within Maryland’s judicial system.

Despite the bill stalling, Girard and McMillan are both hopeful that the Senate’s movement on the Clean Slate Act this year will help it gain enough traction to pass next year.

“We feel we have some momentum,” Girard said. “I think we’ve got to even the playing field in Maryland. People make mistakes. They make changes in their lives. They deserve a second chance.”

Girard emphasized her praise for a different justice reform bill that did make it across both chambers this year: the Maryland Fair Chance Housing Act.

The bill would clarify that landlord’s can refuse a lease to anyone with convictions related to child sex abuse images, sexual abuse, human trafficking, murder within the last 10 years and producing methamphetamine on the premises of federally assisted housing.

If the applicant makes it through that initial screening process, the landlord would then check them for regular qualifying factors like running a credit check and income check, calling references and looking at job history.

After that second screening, then a landlord could run an additional criminal background check for other felonies within the past five years.

A landlord could deny housing because of a felony, but only if they determine the withdrawal is “necessary to fulfill a substantial, legitimate and nondiscriminatory interest.”

“People were getting caught where they were being denied housing just first shot out, whether they had the income, whether they had a job, or they have been working consistently, doing great things in their lives, they were just being shot down,” McMillan said.

She said it would have been nice to see both the Fair Chance Housing and Clean Slate Act make it to Gov. Wes Moore’s desk this year, but she’s excited about the progress being made.

“I know folks that were dancing in the streets in Baltimore and other places because they see that, “Oh, wow, we knocked down another barrier to be able to get fair housing.”

If signed into law, the Fair Chance Housing Act would become effective on Oct. 1, 2026.