Letter of Disposition

[shiloh90]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

Back in 2011 I was arrested and at the end of it my disposition was nolle prosequi. A few months later I went and had it expunged. Today, I am trying to figure out how to get a hold of a letter of disposition or an official document with the disposition on it for a job. I called the district court where I went to court to find out how I could get something like this. They said since it was expunged they had no way of looking it up or getting that information to me.

I'm not really sure where to go or who to talk to from here. Is this true and I don't have a way to get a copy of something with a disposition on it or should I be looking else where for it? Thanks!

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

Back in 2011 I was arrested and at the end of it my disposition was nolle prosequi. A few months later I went and had it expunged. Today, I am trying to figure out how to get a hold of a letter of disposition or an official document with the disposition on it for a job. I called the district court where I went to court to find out how I could get something like this. They said since it was expunged they had no way of looking it up or getting that information to me.

I'm not really sure where to go or who to talk to from here. Is this true and I don't have a way to get a copy of something with a disposition on it or should I be looking else where for it? Thanks!

If your arrest (charges, conviction, whatever) was expunged, that means all records of it were destroyed. There is no record for anyone to look up.

 

[shiloh90]

Thanks for the super fast reply. Just to be clear, from what I was told expungement just removed it from public records and that it was still there to see if someone were to do a "real" background check and not just a judicial case search. In my case its a government run background check, would it still not show?

 

[quincy]

Thanks for the super fast reply. Just to be clear, from what I was told expungement just removed it from public records and that it was still there to see if someone were to do a "real" background check and not just a judicial case search. In my case its a government run background check, would it still not show?

If it has been three years since your expungement was granted, all court records have probably been shredded.

The court's Expungement Order (which you should have a copy of) is sent to court records, the police agencies in the state, any parole or probation agencies, the Criminal Justice Services Information Agency, and the FBI. Each agency that holds records is responsible for destroying physical records (like fingerprints, mug shots, police reports) and expunging the records from their own databases. While there is no public record of your arrest/charges after the expungement, it can take some time for each agency to clear their databases so no record exists at all.

For good information and numbers of agencies to contact if you run into problems, here is a link to a Maryland government brochure:
http://www.mdcourts.gov/courtforms/joint/ccdccr072br.pdf

The disposition of your case, by the way, would be nolle prosequi (although usually the disposition of a case would be the verdict given by a judge at the conclusion of a trial or sentencing). I am not sure why you need a disposition letter if you essentially have no record after the expungement.