1.2 Qualifications, Background Checks, and Application

The Eligibility Checklist (COMAR 11.23.01.13)

Every requirement below must be satisfied before the application is submitted. COMAR 11.23.01.13B is explicit: "An individual applying for an instructor license shall meet all the requirements for licensure before submitting an application to the Administration." There is no conditional or provisional filing.

The four-point rule — memorize the number

The regulation says "may not have more than four active points on their current driving record." Four points is therefore still qualifying; five is not. The same four-point ceiling reappears three more times:

• COMAR 11.23.01.16D(3) — a licensed instructor must continue to have no more than four active points.
• COMAR 11.23.01.19D(11) — "providing instruction with more than four active points on the instructor's current driving record" is a most serious violation.
• COMAR 11.23.02.16B(4) and .18E(2) — the identical ceiling applies to instructor certification.

Widely circulated prep material states a three-point limit. It is wrong, and it is exactly the kind of near-miss distractor an item writer builds a question around.

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Criminal History Disqualifiers (COMAR 11.23.01.13A(5))

An applicant may not have a pending charge or criminal conviction for:

1. Fraud in the operation of providing instruction;
2. A crime of moral turpitude;
3. A sex offense;
4. Contributing to the delinquency of a minor; or
5. Any offense within the last 3 years involving:
   • a controlled dangerous substance;
   • alcohol or drugs while operating a motor vehicle; or
   • a felony while operating a motor vehicle.

Note the structure carefully. The first four categories have no lookback window at all — a pending charge or conviction is disqualifying regardless of age. Only the fifth category carries a time limit, and that limit is 3 years, not five and not ten.

Two-part trap

Items often combine an untimed category with a timed one. "A 2009 conviction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor" is still disqualifying because that category has no lookback. "A four-year-old possession-of-CDS conviction" is outside the 3-year window in .13A(5)(e)(i) and does not disqualify under that paragraph.

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Fingerprints and the Background Check (COMAR 11.23.01.14)

Under Transportation Article, §15-804, an applicant for a driving instructor license or for renewal of one must be fingerprinted and undergo a State and national criminal background check conducted by the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) Central Repository of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

The applicant shall:

1. Be fingerprinted at an official site providing electronic digital fingerprinting — either an official CJIS Central Repository site or a CJIS-approved private provider;
2. Pay the required fee, including the fee authorized under Criminal Procedure Article, §10-221(b), for access to criminal history records; and
3. Obtain a dated official receipt verifying that fingerprinting has been completed and a background check requested.

Information the MVA receives from CJIS is confidential, may not be disseminated, and may be used only to determine eligibility or disqualification (§D). An applicant may contest the contents of the CJIS statement under Criminal Procedure Article, §10-223 (§E).

The supervised-start provision (§F)

This is heavily tested. An applicant otherwise qualified for an instructor license may begin providing instruction:

• (1) pending receipt of satisfactory criminal-history data, and
• (2) only while under the direct supervision of a licensed instructor with a minimum of 2 years teaching experience.

The two-year mentor standard recurs in the apprentice-permit rules at COMAR 11.23.02.24C(1)(a). Learn it once and it answers questions in both chapters.

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The Application Packet (COMAR 11.23.01.15)

The licensed school — not the candidate — bears the duty to ensure that a prospective instructor's application is complete (§A). The application is submitted to the Administration accompanied by:

1. The license fee set forth in COMAR 11.11.05 (the MVA publishes the driving instructor license fee, initial or renewal, as $150);
2. Documentation of successful completion of the required training and certification to teach the courses;
3. A copy of the applicant's high school certificate, its equivalent, or college degree;
4. A dated official receipt verifying fingerprinting and a requested background check;
5. A copy of the applicant's driving record for the past 3 years issued by the licensing authority of the applicant's state of licensure;
6. Certification by the applicant that there are no reportable medical conditions; and
7. A statement certifying under penalty of perjury whether the applicant has ever had a drivers' school instructor license or school certification revoked in Maryland or any other state.

Two points of precision. The driving record submitted is a 3-year record. And item 6 is a self-certification by the applicant — COMAR 11.23.01 does not require a physician's examination, a vision-acuity measurement, or a Department of Transportation medical card for a driving instructor license. Prep material that specifies "20/40 acuity and a 110-degree field on Form MVA-DISD-101" is describing a form and a standard that the regulation does not contain.