Maryland criminal law is set out in the Criminal Law Article of the Maryland Code, and it works differently from most states in one important way: whether an offense is a felony or a misdemeanor is decided by the individual statute, not by the length of the possible sentence. That means some misdemeanors in Maryland carry longer prison terms than felonies in other states. Second-degree assault, for example, is a misdemeanor that can send you to prison for ten years.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Section 3-203 – Assault in the Second Degree To know what you’re actually facing, you have to look at the specific charge.
Felony or Misdemeanor: How Maryland Labels Offenses
Most states use a bright-line rule: any offense punishable by more than a year in prison is a felony. Maryland doesn’t. Each criminal statute states its own classification, and the label doesn’t always track severity. A misdemeanor can carry a decade behind bars. A felony can carry less.
The label still matters. A felony conviction triggers a permanent firearms ban under state and federal law and can close doors on jury service, professional licenses, housing, and jobs. Under the Public Safety Article, anyone convicted of a crime of violence or certain drug offenses may not possess a regulated firearm, and violating that ban carries a mandatory minimum of five years in prison.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-133 Voting rights are one area where Maryland is more forgiving than most states. Once you finish your term of incarceration, your right to vote is restored automatically, even if you’re still on parole or probation.3Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Restoration of Voting Rights in Maryland The only permanent bar is a conviction for buying or selling votes. You do have to re-register through the normal process; it’s not automatic.
Common Offenses and Their Penalties
Theft
Theft under Criminal Law § 7-104 covers taking someone’s property or services without authorization and with intent to deprive them of it, including by deception or threat.4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 7-104 – Theft The dollar value drives the penalty:
- Less than $100: misdemeanor, up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.
- $100 to $1,499: misdemeanor, up to six months (one year for a repeat) and a $500 fine.
- $1,500 to $24,999: felony, up to five years and a $10,000 fine.
- $25,000 to $99,999: felony, up to ten years and a $15,000 fine.
- $100,000 or more: felony, up to twenty years and a $25,000 fine.
Four or more prior theft convictions turn what would be a misdemeanor theft under $1,500 into a five-year felony with a $5,000 fine.4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 7-104 – Theft In every theft case, the court also orders restitution to the owner.
Assault
Second-degree assault is the baseline charge for most physical altercations. It covers offensive physical contact, or the attempt at such contact, without consent. Despite the misdemeanor label, the maximum is ten years in prison and a $2,500 fine.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Section 3-203 – Assault in the Second Degree
First-degree assault is a felony with a 25-year maximum. It requires one of three things: intentionally causing or trying to cause serious physical injury (harm creating a substantial risk of death or permanent disfigurement), assault with a firearm, or intentional strangulation.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Section 3-202 – Assault in the First Degree
Drugs and Cannabis
Simple possession of a controlled dangerous substance other than cannabis is a misdemeanor. A first offense carries up to one year and a $5,000 fine, a second or third up to 18 months, and a fourth or later up to two years.6Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 5-601 Distribution charges are far more serious and require proof the defendant intended to transfer the substance.
Cannabis rules changed on July 1, 2023. Adults 21 and older can legally possess up to 1.5 ounces of flower, up to 12 grams of concentrate, or products containing up to 750 milligrams of THC.7Maryland Cannabis Administration. Adult-Use Cannabis FAQs Amounts above the personal-use limit but within 2.5 ounces are a civil offense with a maximum $250 fine. Above 2.5 ounces is still a criminal misdemeanor. Smoking cannabis in public is a civil violation carrying up to $50 for a first offense and $150 after that. People under 21 are not covered by the adult-use law.
DUI and DWI
Maryland treats DUI (blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher) as more serious than DWI (driving while impaired). A first DUI carries up to one year in jail, a $1,000 fine, and up to six months of license revocation. A second DUI raises those to two years, a $2,000 fine, and a mandatory minimum of five days served.8Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. Driving Under the Influence (DUI) A first DWI tops out at 60 days and a $500 fine; a second DWI can reach a year.
Refusing a breathalyzer test brings automatic administrative penalties that are separate from any criminal case. A first refusal is a 270-day license suspension; a second is a two-year suspension. Those penalties apply even if you’re acquitted of the criminal charge, because they attach to the refusal itself.
How Long the State Has to File Charges
Most misdemeanors must be charged within one year.9Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 5-106 There’s a big exception. If a misdemeanor is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary, no time limit applies at all. Second-degree assault and other serious misdemeanors fall into that category, so the state can bring those charges years later.
Felonies in Maryland generally have no statute of limitations. Specific categories are exceptions: two years for certain vehicle code violations and abuse of a vulnerable adult, three years for welfare fraud, tax offenses, computer crimes, and illegal firearms transfers, and four years for election law violations. Murder and other crimes punishable by life imprisonment can be prosecuted at any time.
Which Court Hears Your Case
The District Court of Maryland is where most criminal cases start. It has exclusive original jurisdiction over all misdemeanors, regardless of the potential sentence, and also handles certain felonies including theft, fraud, and forgery.10Maryland Courts. District Court of Maryland For offenses where the penalty could be three or more years of confinement or a fine of $2,500 or more, the District Court shares jurisdiction with the Circuit Court.
One rule matters more than any other for how you plan your defense: the District Court doesn’t hold jury trials. Every case there is decided by a judge. If you want a jury, your case has to go to Circuit Court, and you can request that by praying a jury trial.
The Circuit Court handles serious felonies, cases in which the defendant requests a jury, and appeals from District Court. A District Court appeal to Circuit Court is a trial de novo, meaning the whole case is tried again from scratch.11Maryland Courts. Appeals to the Appellate Court of Maryland Further appeals go to the Appellate Court of Maryland and, in rare cases accepted by petition, the Supreme Court of Maryland (the two courts were renamed in 2022).12Maryland Courts. Voter-approved Constitutional Change Renames High Courts to Supreme and Appellate Court of Maryland
Your Rights When You’re Charged
If you’re taken into custody and questioned, police must give Miranda warnings first: the right to remain silent, notice that anything you say can be used in court, and the right to an attorney. Statements taken without those warnings are generally excluded from the prosecution’s case, though they can still be used to challenge your credibility if you testify.
The Sixth Amendment guarantees a lawyer in any criminal case that carries potential loss of liberty. If you can’t afford one, the court appoints one after an income-based eligibility screen tied to the federal poverty guidelines. You have no constitutional right to a jury for petty offenses, but Maryland gives you jury access in Circuit Court for any criminal charge, including a misdemeanor appealed from District Court.
Sentencing: Guidelines, Mandatory Minimums, and PBJ
Maryland uses voluntary sentencing guidelines maintained by the State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy.13Maryland Manual On-Line. State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy Each case gets an offense score (severity of the crime) and an offender score (criminal history, supervision status at the time of the offense, prior supervision violations, with a maximum of 9 and a minimum of 0). Those two scores intersect on one of three matrices (person, drug, or property crimes) to produce a recommended range.14Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy. Maryland Sentencing Guidelines Manual Judges can go outside the range but must justify it. The range never exceeds the statutory maximum or drops below a mandatory minimum.
Mandatory minimums remove much of the judge’s discretion. Using a firearm during a felony or crime of violence carries a non-suspendable five-year minimum on the first offense, with no parole eligibility during that period, and subsequent offenses add another five-year minimum served consecutively.15Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy. Guidelines Offenses with Non-Suspendable Mandatory Minimum Illegally possessing a regulated firearm after a qualifying prior conviction carries a five-year minimum and a 15-year maximum, waivable only if more than five years have passed since you finished the prior sentence and the prosecutor gave written notice 30 days before trial.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-133
Probation before judgment, known as PBJ, is one of the most valuable outcomes in Maryland sentencing short of an outright dismissal. After a guilty plea, a nolo plea, or a finding of guilt, the judge can stay entry of judgment, defer proceedings, and put you on probation. Complete probation successfully and no conviction is entered on your record.16New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Criminal Procedure 6-220 – Probation Before Judgment That’s a major difference for background checks, licensing, and employment.
PBJ isn’t available for every offense. It can’t be granted for a second DUI or impaired-driving charge within ten years if you already got a PBJ or conviction for a similar offense, for a second or later drug offense (with a narrow exception for simple possession completed through drug court or treatment), or for certain sex offenses involving minors.
Clearing a Maryland Criminal Record
Maryland offers two ways to limit public access to a record. Expungement removes the case from court and law enforcement records. Shielding leaves the record in the system but hides it from the public Case Search database, so most background checks won’t find it.17Maryland Courts. Expungement (Adult)
Cases that ended in acquittal, dismissal, or nolle prosequi on or after October 1, 2021 are automatically expunged after three years, and you can petition for earlier expungement. PBJ dispositions and stet dockets are eligible too. Filing an expungement petition on a guilty disposition costs $30 per case. Acquittals, dismissals, PBJs, nolle prosequi, and stets carry no fee, and fee waivers are available. Not every offense qualifies, and if you’re not a U.S. citizen, talk to an immigration attorney before filing: expungement under state law doesn’t necessarily eliminate immigration consequences.
Consequences That Outlast the Sentence
The court’s sentence is only part of what a conviction costs. Maryland bars firearm possession after a conviction for a crime of violence or certain drug offenses, with a mandatory five-year minimum for a violation, and federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) adds its own firearms disability on felony convictions regardless of state law. Employers routinely run background checks, and certain convictions disqualify applicants from healthcare, education, law enforcement, and finance jobs. Landlords screen for criminal history, and some convictions make you ineligible for public housing. Voting is the exception: your right is restored on release from incarceration, but you have to re-register.