Getting a Job After Prison in Maryland

There is one question that determines whether you get hired. Not the application. Not the background check. Not what the charge was or how long you were inside.

The question is this: why you, over the thirty other people I could hire who don't have a criminal record?

If you walk in without a ready answer, you will not get the job. The interviewer can see the pause the moment you don't have something prepared, and once they see it, the room shifts against you. What you need is an answer practiced enough to say with confidence and humility at the same time.

The answer that works is this:

Everybody deserves a second chance. Somebody is going to give me one. And they are going to get the best employee they ever had, because I am never, ever going to do something that sends me back to prison.

Say it clean. Say it without flinching. It makes no excuses, asks for no sympathy, and tells the employer the one thing they actually need to know: you have more reason to perform than anyone else in that stack.

Then live it. The light is on you from the first day. Use it. Work twice as hard as the person next to you. Show up earlier, stay later, and make that scrutiny your shining light, not a shadow. The person standing next to you does not have anyone watching them that closely. You do. That is the advantage if you decide to use it.

What the Law in Maryland Says About Your Record

Maryland is one of fifteen states that has extended ban the box protections to private employers. The Maryland Fair Criminal Record Screening Act (FCRSA), also known as the Criminal Record Screening Practices law (Labor and Employment Article, Section 3-1501), took effect February 29, 2020. It applies to employers with fifteen or more full-time employees working in Maryland.

Under this law, covered employers are prohibited from requiring an applicant to disclose whether they have a criminal record or have had criminal accusations brought against them before the first in-person interview. The timing protection is clear: your record stays out of the conversation until you have had at least one in-person meeting with the employer. Exceptions apply where another state or federal law requires the employer to conduct background screening for that position, and for employers who provide programs, services, or direct care to minors or vulnerable adults.

Maryland is also one of fifteen states nationally confirmed to have extended this protection to private employers. The law covers both public and private sector employers above the employee threshold.

Two Maryland counties have gone significantly further.

Prince George's County enacted the Employment Fairness Act for Returning Citizens (Bill CB-019-2024, effective September 16, 2024), covering employers with ten or more full-time employees. Under this ordinance, employers cannot inquire about or consider a conviction for a nonviolent felony if the sentence was completed five or more years ago, or a misdemeanor if the sentence was completed thirty or more months ago. Employers cannot consider arrests that did not result in a conviction. Cannabis convictions where the sentence is completed are also protected. If you are applying for work in Prince George's County, this ordinance provides some of the strongest record protection in the state.

Montgomery County has its own local ban the box ordinance that has been amended over time, similarly limiting when and how employers in the county can use criminal history information.

Baltimore City also has a local fair chance ordinance.

Outside these local protections, Maryland's statewide law protects you with employers of fifteen or more from the initial application through the first interview. No Maryland law sets a statewide lookback limit on convictions for private employers, though the federal FCRA's seven-year restriction on non-conviction records applies statewide.

Maryland's expungement law covers certain cannabis-related offenses and certain misdemeanor convictions, with the REDEEM Act of 2023 reducing waiting periods for petition-based misdemeanor expungements. Broader automatic expungement legislation has been proposed but as of publication is not yet law. Contact Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service for a current eligibility assessment.

Building the Answer Before You Need It

Maryland law gets you to the first interview. Your answer is what gets you hired.

Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services runs a genuinely extensive education and training system inside its facilities. Multiple college degree programs operate inside Maryland prisons: a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies at MCI-Women and MCI-Jessup (130 students per year, since 2012); a BA in Human Services Administration and optional Business Management minor at Jessup Correctional Institution; certificate programs in Business Management at Eastern Correctional Institution; a BA in Liberal Arts at Patuxent Institution; a BS in Sociology at Jessup Correctional Institution. CDL training is offered to residents twenty-four months prior to release. These are not just vocational certificates. Some are bachelor's degrees.

DPSCS begins reentry planning at intake, building individualized release plans that include employment, housing, healthcare, and community connections. The Reentry Unit aims to establish a reentry plan within six months of release.

Start with what you did with your time inside. If you completed a degree, a certification, vocational training, or any programming, that content goes directly into your answer. Then connect it specifically to the job you are applying for.

Maryland's economy runs on federal government and federal contracting, healthcare and biotech (anchored by the Baltimore-Washington corridor), defense, cybersecurity, logistics, construction, and hospitality. Whatever you are applying for, make the answer specific to what that employer needs.

Practice it out loud. Until the hesitation is completely gone. The law gives you the first interview. Your answer is everything after that.

Companies in Maryland That Hire People with Criminal Records

Maryland's economy, anchored by the Baltimore metro and the DC suburbs in Montgomery and Prince George's counties, creates significant demand in government contracting, healthcare, logistics, construction, food service, and retail.

Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, and major food service operators have Maryland operations and national fair chance commitments. Under the federal Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, federal contractors must delay criminal history inquiries until after a conditional offer for most positions -- meaning many of Maryland's largest employers (federal contractors in the defense, IT, and professional services sectors) are subject to this federal timing protection. Johns Hopkins Medicine, University of Maryland Medical System, and other healthcare employers hire in support and entry-level roles. Port of Baltimore operations and logistics along the I-95 and I-70 corridors create consistent transportation and warehouse demand. Construction contractors across the state face persistent labor shortages.

Maryland Workforce Exchange (MWE), operated through the Maryland Department of Labor, provides job listings and direct employer connections for returning citizens statewide. American Job Centers across Maryland have embedded reentry navigators through the DPSCS-DOL partnership.

PIVOT in Baltimore specifically serves formerly incarcerated Black women with workforce reentry and development services, in partnership with PREPARE, which provides pre-release services and reentry planning.

Staffing agencies across Baltimore, the DC suburbs, Annapolis, and Frederick are the most accessible first step, placing workers in logistics, warehousing, manufacturing, and support roles with more flexibility than direct hire.

For the full national list of companies with public fair chance commitments, see the InmateAid Fair Chance Employer Reference List.

The Tax Credit Employers Get for Hiring You

Here is the closing argument for every conversation with an employer on the fence.

There is a federal program called the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, or WOTC. When an employer hires someone from a qualifying group, including individuals recently released from prison, the employer may receive a significant federal tax credit per qualifying hire. That is not charity. It is a business incentive the federal government created specifically to make hiring returning citizens financially advantageous.

You are not asking anyone to take a risk on you. You are telling them your hire comes with a tax benefit attached that none of the other thirty applicants can offer. Say it at the end of the interview, after you have made your case: I qualify for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. Hiring me may put money back in your business. And I will give you the best work you have ever gotten from a new hire, because I have too much to lose to give you anything less.

Maryland's American Job Centers coordinate WOTC certification and Federal Bonding access for employers statewide.

Where to Get Help in Maryland

Maryland American Job Centers provide job search assistance, career counseling, resume help, training referrals, WOTC coordination, and Federal Bonding access statewide. DPSCS has embedded reentry navigators at local American Job Centers as part of its DOL partnership. Find your nearest center at mdunemployment.com or through the Maryland Department of Labor.

Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) Reentry Unit begins planning at intake, with individualized reentry plans targeting employment, housing, and healthcare connection within six months of release. Contact through dpscs.maryland.gov.

Maryland Workforce Exchange (MWE) provides job listings and employer connections specifically for returning citizens. Access at mwejobs.maryland.gov.

PIVOT in Baltimore provides workforce reentry and development services for formerly incarcerated Black women, in partnership with PREPARE (pre-release services). Contact through the Baltimore workforce network.

Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service provides free legal assistance including guidance on expungement eligibility under Maryland's current law. Contact at mvlslaw.org.

Governor Moore's reentry initiative, coordinated through DPSCS, is an active all-of-government effort focused on reducing barriers to work, wages, and wealth for returning citizens. "We need to end the myth that every sentence is a life sentence," Governor Moore stated at the July 2025 reentry simulation event.

The Federal Bonding Program, coordinated through Maryland's American Job Centers, provides free fidelity bonding to employers who hire returning citizens.