Category: Maryland Law

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Maryland Law

New Maryland Laws in effect July 1, 2023 

The Department of Legislative Services of the Maryland General Assembly has issued the The 90-Day Report – A Review of the 2023 Legislative Session  There were 806 laws enacted in 2023. A list of bills introduced by the Senate and the House in 2023 can be accessed at the Maryland General Assembly website. The effective dates of the Legislation can be viewed on 2023 Chapters – Effective Dates 

Legislation that takes effect on July 1, 2023, is listed in 2023 – Chapters – Effective July 1, 2023 This Legislation includes 2022 Chapters that are effective July 1, 2023, including the following with descriptions provided by the Fiscal and Policy Note for each Bill: 

HB0837 CH0026 Cannabis Reform (2022 Chapter – Effective July 1, 2023) 

Section 4 of this bill, which was originally passed in the 2022 Legislative Session, takes effect on July 1, 2023.  Section 4 alters civil/criminal penalties related to cannabis. 

SB0653 CH0766 Child in Need of Assistance – Neglect – Cannabis Use 

Provides that the use of cannabis by a parent or certain other individuals who care for a child does not qualify as neglect except in certain circumstances for purposes of provisions of law applicable to children in need of assistance.  

HB1071 CH0802 Criminal Law and Procedure – Cannabis – Fines for Smoking in Public, Stops, and Searches 

This bill prohibits a law enforcement officer from (1) initiating a stop or a search of a person, motor vehicle, or vessel based solely on specified types of cannabis-related evidence and (2) conducting a search of specified areas of a motor vehicle or vessel during an investigation of a person solely for driving a motor vehicle or vessel while impaired by or under the influence of cannabis. Evidence discovered or obtained in violation of the bill, including evidence discovered or obtained by consent, is not admissible in a trial, hearing, or other proceeding. In addition, the penalty for smoking cannabis in a public place is reduced for a first offense, to a maximum fine of $50 (rather than $250 under current law) and for a second or subsequent offense, to a maximum fine of $150 (rather than $500 under current law).  

HB0021 CH0274 – Property tax – Tax Sales – Notices and Payoff Amount for Redemption 

This bill authorizes an owner of owner-occupied residential property – that has been sold at a tax sale and for which a complaint to foreclose the right of redemption has not yet been filed – to request, from the holder of the certificate of sale, the current payoff amount to redeem the property. The current mortgagee of the property and specified others are also authorized to request the current payoff amount. … The bill also requires that an email address be included in the holder’s and the tax collector’s contact information provided in specified notices sent by the holder to the owner and specified others. 

SB0756 CH0641 Access to Counsel in Evictions – Funding 

This bill extends, through fiscal 2027, a requirement for (1) the Comptroller to distribute $14.0 million annually from the State’s Unclaimed Property Fund to the Access to Counsel in Evictions (ACE) Special Fund and (2) the Governor to include in the budget bill for each associated fiscal year an appropriation of $14.0 million from the ACE Special Fund to the Maryland Legal Services Corporation (MLSC). 

HB0707 CH0443 Office of the Comptroller – Taxpayer Advocate Division 

Establishing the Taxpayer Advocate Division in the Office of the Comptroller to assist taxpayers and their representatives in resolving certain taxpayer problems and complaints and represent taxpayers’ interests in a certain manner. 

HB0169 CH0572 Public Utilities – Energy Efficiency and Conservation Programs – Energy Performance Targets and Low-Income Housing 

This bill requires the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to procure or provide energy efficiency and conservation (EE&C) programs and services for electricity customers for the 2024-2026 EmPOWER Maryland Program cycle, subject to specified requirements. The bill also (1) establishes the Green and Healthy Task Force, staffed by DHCD; (2) establishes several reporting and planning requirements for DHCD and the Public Service Commission (PSC), including that DHCD develop a plan to provide energy efficiency retrofits to all low-income households by 2031; and (3) requires the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Governor’s Office of Small, Minority, and Women-Owned Businesses (GOSBA) to conduct a related disparity study by December 31, 2025.  

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lawlibrary Maryland Law

Requesting Emergency Custody

Emergency Relief in Anne Arundel County

Emergency relief is a temporary order of protection from imminent, substantial harm or harassment for you or a minor child. To receive emergency relief, you must be able to show that you or a minor child are truly at risk of imminent, substantial harm or harassment.

How to File for Emergency Relief

Because an emergency relief order is temporary, the court requires you to file for permanent relief, such as for divorce, custody, or custody modification. This additional petition needs to be filed at the same time or earlier than the motion for relief.

The Emergency Custody Packet includes:

  • Instructions for filing
  • Sample motion for emergency and ex parte relief
  • Sample certificate of service
  • Sample notice of emergency hearing
  • Sample declaration that you gave notice to the other party

To receive emergency relief from the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, do the following:

  1. At least 24 hours before the hearing takes place, notify the other person or persons involved in the case (MD Rules, Rule 1-351(b). The form is included in the packet. Emergency relief hearings take place only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1:30 pm.
  2. File your motion in room 100 of the first floor of the courthouse before 12:30 pm on the day the hearing will take place.
  3. At the same time or earlier, file for a permanent form of relief, such as divorce, custody, custody modification, etc. Form packets can be found on the family law resource pages.
  4. Serve the other party or parties of your relief motion. The form is included in the packet. Find out more about service of process here.
  5. During the hearing, you must prove that you or a minor child are at risk of immediate and substantial harm or harassment. The court will not grant relief for harm that is based only on speculation. (See Magness v. Magness, 79 Md. App. 668) The court will then decide whether to grant you relief based on the facts you present.

The time length of the relief order depends on your situation.

There are attorneys at the the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Family Court Help Center who can help with this and other family law matters.

Library Print and Electronic Resources

  • Child safety : a guide for judges and attorneys / Therese Roe Lund, Jennifer Renne (American Bar Association, 2009) (KF3735 .L86 2009)

Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Information

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lawlibrary Maryland Law

Maryland 2022 Session: New Laws in Effect October 1, 2022

October 1, 2022 marks the day when most of the legislation passed during the 2022 legislative session goes into effect. There were 783 laws passed in 2022. Listings of bills for the House and Senate introduced and passed can be found on the Maryland General Assembly website.

New laws enacted include the following:

CH484/SB290 THE BUDGET

CH41/SB691 & CH42/HB459 Juvenile Justice Reform

CH18/HB425 & CH19/SB387 Untraceable Firearms

CH722 /HB 521 Shielding of certain landlord and tenant court records

CH619/HB 808) & CH620/SB508 – Guardianship of Minors

CH175/HB83 Marriage of Minors

CH45/HB1 Constitutional Amendment – Cannabis – Adult Use and Possession

CH56/HB937 Abortion Care Access Act

See the “The 90 Day Report: A Review of the 2022 Legislative Session” for more information on the 2022 session.  There is a similar report that covers the last five years: Major Issues Review 2019-2022.

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Access to Justice lawlibrary Maryland Law

Online Legal Information Resources

In an August 31, 2022 Press Release, the American Association of Law Libraries announced that the AALL Advancing Access to Justice Special Committee has developed a new resource, the Online Legal Information Resources (OLIR, “for information professionals—law librarians, legal information professionals, and public librarians—and members of the public to easily locate online primary legal materials.”

“The new Online Legal Information Resources (OLIR) includes information for U.S. states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, the U.S. Federal Government, and Canada. The OLIR includes links to session laws, statutory codes, registers, administrative codes, and court opinions. To help users easily identify reliable online sources, the OLIR contains information about whether the legal materials are official, authentic, preserved, and copyrighted. The OLIR also includes contact information for state and local public law libraries, covering whether services to incarcerated people are provided.”

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lawlibrary Maryland Law

Legal Resources on Adoption

“Air Force family adopts child from Ukraine” from DVIDSHUB is licensed under CC BY 2.0

We now have a resource page on adoption listed on our FAQs page, where you can find relevant laws, online articles, and library materials on adoption law in Maryland.

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lawlibrary Maryland Law

HeinOnline: National Survey of State Laws

HeinOnline is available in the law library through the Thurgood Marshall State Law Library and on judiciary computers. One of the many databases there includes the National Survey of State Laws. 

Topics that are in the news – abortion, gun control and voter laws –  have been updated in advance of the updated 9th edition that will be available soon. Previous editions are available for historic research comparisons.

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Maryland Law Self Represented

Learn About Trusts

Our FAQs page now links to our new resources page on trusts. There, you will find a bibliography of manuals and treatises on the topic, as well as links to relevant statutes, forms, and articles.

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lawlibrary Maryland Law

Maryland 2022 Session: New Laws in Effect July 1, 2022

New laws go into effect in Maryland on July 1, 2022.  While most of the laws enacted in the 2022 session will go into effect on October 1, there are laws that will take effect in July. The Department of Legislative Services General Assembly of Maryland Dates of Interest 2022 SESSION indicates that on July 1 budgetary, tax, and revenue bills take effect and that October 1 is the usual effective date for bills.

The Maryland Manual explains the effective dates in the article, “THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW”:

All bills passed by the General Assembly become law when signed by the Governor, or when passed over the Governor’s veto by three-fifths of the membership of each house. According to the Constitution, laws thus approved take effect on the first day of June after the session in which they were passed, except when a later date is specified in the act, or the bill is declared an emergency measure. For many years, most laws took effect July During the 1992 Session, however, October 1 began to be used as the standard effective date for legislation, coinciding with the start of the federal government’s fiscal year. Emergency bills, passed by three-fifths of the total number of members of each house, become law immediately upon their approval by the Governor.

All passed bills, except the budget bill and constitutional amendments, must be presented to the Governor within twenty days following adjournment of a session. The Governor may veto such bills within thirty days after presentation. If a passed bill is not vetoed, it becomes law. The budget bill, however, becomes law upon its final passage and cannot be vetoed. Constitutional amendments also cannot be vetoed; they become law only upon their ratification by the voters at the next general election.

Bills going into effect on July 1 include:

Inclusive Schools Act (HB850/CH739) prohibits “county boards of education and certain schools and prekindergarten programs from taking certain discriminatory actions because of a person’s race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.”

Abortion Care Access Act (HB937/CH56) creates the Abortion Care Clinical Training Program in the Maryland Department of Health to ensure that there are a sufficient number of health professionals to provide abortion care.

Retirement Tax Elimination Act of 2022 (SB405/CH4 and HB1468/CH3) allows a subtraction modification under the Maryland income tax.

Time to Care Act (SB275/CH48) establishes the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program.

Work Opportunity Tax Credit (SB598/CH5 and HB2/CH6) allows employers that claim the federal work opportunity credit to claim a credit against the State income tax.

A full listing of bills effective July 1, 2022 is here.

There are laws that were passed in previous sessions that take effect this July 1. For example a law affecting the calculation of child support was passed in 2020 (HB496/CH 383 and SB809/CH384) but was delayed in 2021 (HB1339/CH305) to take effect this year on July 1.

See the “The 90 Day Report: A Review of the 2022 Legislative Session” for more information on the 2022 session.  There is a similar report that covers the last five years: Major Issues Review 2019-2022.

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lawlibrary Maryland Law Pro Bono

Lawyer in the Library: Wrap-Up for March and April 2022

The Ask a Lawyer in the Library Program welcomed Jennifer Jones and William Moomau as the newest pro bono volunteers this spring. They joined Steve Migdal, Jack Paltell, Richard Ronay, Carole Brown and Saul McCormick in assisting 20 people with a variety of legal issues in April and March. Issues included landlord/tenant, contracts, wills and estates, consumer debt and property disputes with neighbors.

The law library will send issue related information to registrants so that they might have a better understanding of the law in preparation for their time with the attorney. This information is also shared with the attorneys so that they can review the same resources. The library maintains FAQ pages, making this easy. Recent FAQ pages included landlord/tenant, wills and estates, name change, and expungement. When there is not a FAQ to send the People’s Law Library of Maryland is great source. recent articles include Solving Disputes with Your Neighbors and Filing a Consumer Complaint.

“Ask a Lawyer in the Library” is held every Wednesday of the month from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and on the third Wednesday from 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. You can talk with a volunteer lawyer for at least 20 minutes about your civil, non-family legal problem for free. All sessions are now conducted over Zoom or by phone.

This program is sponsored by Anne Arundel County Local Pro Bono Committee, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, and the Anne Arundel Bar Association. It is hosted by the Anne Arundel County Public Library.

Register online here or call the law library for help. Once you have registered, you will be sent a link to an intake sheet. Instructions for meeting with the attorney will be sent once the intake is competed.

Contact the library if you have questions: (phone) 410-222-1387 or (email) AALawLibrarian@mdcourts.gov

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Maryland Law

Sine Die – The Maryland Legislative Session Has Ended

The 2022 legislative session ended on Monday night, April 11, 2022 at midnight. Visit the Maryland General Assembly website to find out what passed and what didn’t over the last 90 days. There are links to:

Senate Bills Introduced

House Bills Introduced

Bills Passed by Both Chambers

Bills Enacted (Chapters)

Most laws will go into effect on October 1, 2022.  However, to be sure you can check the effective date at the end of the enacted legislation.

Find out more about the workings of the legislature in the article, “The Legislative Process: How a Bill Becomes a Law,” in the Maryland Manual Online .