The Senate unanimously enacted on Tuesday and the governor is ready to sign a bill that would allow people arrested but never charged to have the record of their arrest automatically eliminated, or expunged.
Gov. Martin O?Malley “will sign it,” communications director Steve Kearney said. “We?ve been supportive of these efforts since he was mayor.”
The legislation (HB 10) by Del. Keith Haynes was prompted by mass street arrests in Baltimore City where police brought in as many as 21,000 people, but never charged anyone with a crime, said Sen. Lisa Gladden, D-Baltimore City, floor manager for the bill. The Examiner reported earlier this year in a special report about the plight of several people who police arrested but never charged, and how those arrests affected their careers.
Police unions and others in law enforcement initially opposed the legislation. But those objections were apparently removed when it was determined that few people arrested but not charged had sued the police officers for false arrest.
“This is not a bad bill from a law enforcement perspective,” said Sen. James Robey, a retired police officer and police chief from Howard County. Some people are released after an arrest because “the person didn?t do it,” Robey told his colleagues on the Senate floor.
Robey?s comments were enough to change the mind of at least Sen. Alex Mooney, R-Frederick, who had prepared to vote against the measure.
Mooney was still concerned that not enough was being done to support the police in Baltimore.
“I resent the implication of this bill that the police are abusing their authority,” Mooney said.
“People need clean records to get good jobs and to get into good schools,” Gladden said. While it has been a large problem in Baltimore, she said, “there are people in every county who are not charged” and would benefit from the bill.
Sen. Larry Haines, R-Carroll, said he was also familiar with the situation in Baltimore. He also said an arrest record can also make it difficult to get a loan or a mortgage.
Gladden said it would be relatively easy for those who were never charged to have the police remove the record of the arrest. After three years, a person could also have the police destroy the mug shot and fingerprints taken after the arrest.
The bill passed the House of Delegates on March 6.
