For years, Harold Coleman Jr. has traveled to Annapolis to push the Maryland General Assembly to expand expungement, the process of removing a case from court and law enforcement records.

But Coleman has not been able to take advantage of changes himself. That’s because the Appellate Court of Maryland ruled in 2022 that certain people who violated their probation, even for minor reasons, cannot receive an expungement.

That’s soon slated to change.

On Tuesday, Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, is expected to sign a bill he pushed known as the Expungement Reform Act of 2025. The legislation will address predicaments like Coleman’s as well as make three new charges eligible for expungement. The measure when enacted will also shield more cases from public view in the Maryland Judiciary Case Search.

“I was very happy,” said Coleman, 56, a technician for the Maryland Transportation Authority at the Bay Bridge who lives in Reisterstown. “But in all reality, it’s just the beginning. Because we still have a lot of work to do.”

The act will allow people who are now permanently barred from clearing their record because they ran into problems on probation to seek an expungement.

The three charges to be added are driving without a license, credit card theft and writing bad checks.

Those changes would take effect on Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, starting early next year, the Maryland Judiciary Case Search will no longer show cannabis-related convictions that were later pardoned. That’s along with cases that have been on the shelf for at least three years.

In 2024, Moore pardoned more than 175,000 convictions related to cannabis.

“Marylanders who have served their time and turned their lives around are being unfairly blocked from jobs, housing and opportunity,” Moore said in a video posted on X. “And that just doesn’t hurt them. It hurts all of us.”

Groups pushing for change are celebrating the expected enactment of the bill.

“This really is an extremely important reform for Maryland, that I think will help so many people take advantage of the well-documented benefits of having records expunged,” said Meredith Girard, executive director of Shore Legal Access, a nonprofit organization that serves eight counties on the Eastern Shore and connects people and families in need of legal representation with attorneys.

Expungement increases income, employment and housing opportunities, she said, and makes it possible to volunteer in the community.

Chris Sweeney, workforce development manager at the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, a nonprofit organization that helps provide legal assistance to low-income individuals and families, said he was excited that Moore took up expungement as a “flagship issue.”

“It’s inspiring to see that his administration takes it seriously and understands why expungement is important,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney said the appeals court ruling was “holding back thousands of people.”

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services’ Division of Parole & Probation reported that in 2022, 43% of people did not successfully complete the terms of their supervision.

In fiscal year 2024, people filed 44,673 petitions for expungement in District Court, and 9,396 in Circuit Court, according to a nonpartisan summary of the bill.

Maryland Legal Aid, the state’s largest provider of free civil legal services, helps people with expungement at least once per week at clinics, said Meaghan McDermott, advocacy director for community lawyering and development.

Every time, she said, some people learn they’re ineligible because of the decision. Now, McDermott said, she’s looking forward to violations of probation no longer being a bar to expungement.