3090                                                 VETOES

Bill 68.

Sincerely,

/s/ Marvin Handel

Governor

House Bill No. 122 — Expungement of Criminal Records
AN ACT concerning

Criminal Records — Expungement

FOR the purpose of providing for the expungement of
certain juvenile, arrest and adjudicated records,
defining terms, providing an exception, providing
penalties for the violation of these provisions, and
generally relating to a procedure for the
expungement of criminal records.

May 31, 1974.

Honorable John Hanson Briscoe
Speaker of the House of Delegates
State House
Annapolis, Maryland 21404

Dear Mr. Speaker:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the
Maryland Constitution, I have today vetoed House Bill
122.

This bill requires the automatic expungement of all
criminal records of the arrest, detention, and
confinement of any person who has been arrested, detained
or confined and thereafter is released without being
charged with the commission of a crime. It also
established a procedure for the expungement of all
criminal records of a person who has been charged with a
juvenile or criminal offense (other than a sex offense or
an offense "relating to the point system of Article 66 —
1/2") , and thereafter is acquitted or is granted
probation without verdict, or a nolle presequi or a
"stet" is entered, or the case is otherwise dismissed.

Expungement of criminal records in cases where no
conviction has been obtained is a concept which I
wholeheartedly support. I equally support, and would
sign, properly drawn legislation to accomplish that end.
With respect to House Bill 122, however, I have been
advised by the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, the
Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, and the Chief Judge