Temporary Agent Registration Notice​

To expedite the agent registration process, the Maryland Cannabis Administration (MCA) is authorized under Chapter 241 of 2024 - PDF to issue a temporary agent registration or renewal. Effective October 1, 2024, a licensee or registrant may request a temporary agent registration or renewal by completing an independent pre-employment background check for the prospective agent and attach it to the agent registration application. Provided the individual’s preemployment background check does not indicate a conviction of a crime of moral turpitude, the MCA may issue a temporary, conditional registration or renewal prior to receiving Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) criminal history results. The MCA encourages licensees to use this background screening as an opportunity to review an employee's criminal history records and make determinations on a candidate's fitness for a job opportunity based on those findings.  

If the temporary agent application is approved, MCA will issue a temporary badge through OneStop that the agent may use for up to 90 days. If, upon receipt of the applicant’s CJIS criminal history records, the MCA determines that the applicant has been convicted of or pleaded nolo contendere to a crime involving moral turpitude, the MCA may revoke temporary registration immediately. If the MCA determines that the applicant has not been convicted of or plead no contendere for such a crime, the agent’s temporary registration will roll seamlessly into the standard two-year registration period, and MCA will issue a standard two-year agent identification card. 

To request temporary registration for a prospective agent or conditional agent renewal, a licensee or registrant must complete the standard agent registration application, including documentation of the submission of fingerprints of the agent of to the Criminal Justice Information System’s Central Repository in accordance with the Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article, §36-505, Annotated Code of Maryland. The following, additional steps are also required: 

1. Select the temporary agent registration radio button; and 
2. Upload documentation that the licensee or registrant performed a pre-employment background check completed by a third party vendor that includes information regarding the agent’s criminal history. 

To request the temporary agent registration option, a licensee or registrant must select the corresponding radio button and upload 3rd party documentation on the agent registration application upon initial submission. MCA will not accept requests for expedited processing after initial agent application submission.