Maryland 2023 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB117 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb0117
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 117
8	8	E4 3lr0331
9	9	(PRE–FILED)
10	10	By: Delegate S. Johnson
11	11	Requested: August 17, 2022
12	12	Introduced and read first time: January 11, 2023
13	13	Assigned to: Judiciary
14	14
15	15	A BILL ENTITLED
16	16
17	17	AN ACT concerning 1
18	18
19	19	Certification of Police Officers – Physical Agility Assessment – Exemption 2
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of exempting an individual from the physical agility assessment required 3
22	22	for certification as a police officer in the State if the individual was a certain police 4
23	23	officer or a certain equivalent on or before a certain date and has a certain number 5
24	24	of years of service as a police officer or a certain equivalent; and generally relating 6
25	25	to the certification of police officers. 7
26	26
27	27	BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 8
28	28	Article – Public Safety 9
29	29	Section 3–201(a) and (f) 10
30	30	Annotated Code of Maryland 11
31	31	(2022 Replacement Volume) 12
32	32
33	33	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 13
34	34	Article – Public Safety 14
35	35	Section 3–209 15
36	36	Annotated Code of Maryland 16
37	37	(2022 Replacement Volume) 17
38	38
39	39	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 18
40	40	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 19
41	41
42	42	Article – Public Safety 20
43	43
44	44	3–201. 21
45	45
46	46	(a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. 22
47	47
48	48	(f) (1) “Police officer” means an individual who: 23 2 HOUSE BILL 117
49	49
50	50
51	51
52	52	(i) is authorized to enforce the general criminal laws of the State; 1
53	53	and 2
54	54
55	55	(ii) is a member of one of the following law enforcement agencies: 3
56	56
57	57	1. the Department of State Police; 4
58	58
59	59	2. the Police Department of Baltimore City; 5
60	60
61	61	3. the police department, bureau, or force of a county; 6
62	62
63	63	4. the police department, bureau, or force of a municipal 7
64	64	corporation; 8
65	65
66	66	5. the Maryland Transit Administration police force; 9
67	67
68	68	6. the Maryland Transportation Authority Police; 10
69	69
70	70	7. the police forces of the University System of Maryland; 11
71	71
72	72	8. the police force of Morgan State University; 12
73	73
74	74	9. the office of the sheriff of a county; 13
75	75
76	76	10. the police forces of the Department of Natural Resources; 14
77	77
78	78	11. the police force of the Maryland Capitol Police of the 15
79	79	Department of General Services; 16
80	80
81	81	12. the police force of a State, county, or municipal corporation 17
82	82	if the special police officers are appointed under Subtitle 3 of this title; 18
83	83
84	84	13. the Housing Authority of Baltimore City Police Force; 19
85	85
86	86	14. the Baltimore City School Police Force; 20
87	87
88	88	15. the Crofton Police Department; 21
89	89
90	90	16. the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission Police 22
91	91	Force; 23
92	92
93	93	17. the Ocean Pines Police Department; 24
94	94
95	95	18. the police force of the Baltimore City Community College; 25
96	96
97	97	19. the police force of the Hagerstown Community College; 26 HOUSE BILL 117 3
98	98
99	99
100	100
101	101	20. the Warrant Apprehension Unit of the Intelligence and 1
102	102	Investigative Division in the Department; 2
103	103
104	104	21. the police force of the Anne Arundel Community College; 3
105	105	or 4
106	106
107	107	22. the police department of the Johns Hopkins University 5
108	108	established in accordance with Title 24, Subtitle 12 of the Education Article. 6
109	109
110	110	(2) “Police officer” includes: 7
111	111
112	112	(i) a member of the Field Enforcement Bureau of the Comptroller’s 8
113	113	Office; 9
114	114
115	115	(ii) a member of the Field Enforcement Division of the Alcohol and 10
116	116	Tobacco Commission; 11
117	117
118	118	(iii) the State Fire Marshal or a deputy State fire marshal; 12
119	119
120	120	(iv) an investigator of the Intelligence and Investigative Division of 13
121	121	the Department; 14
122	122
123	123	(v) a Montgomery County fire and explosive investigator as defined 15
124	124	in § 2–208.1 of the Criminal Procedure Article; 16
125	125
126	126	(vi) an Anne Arundel County or City of Annapolis fire and explosive 17
127	127	investigator as defined in § 2–208.2 of the Criminal Procedure Article; 18
128	128
129	129	(vii) a Prince George’s County fire and explosive investigator as 19
130	130	defined in § 2–208.3 of the Criminal Procedure Article; 20
131	131
132	132	(viii) a Worcester County fire and explosive investigator as defined in 21
133	133	§ 2–208.4 of the Criminal Procedure Article; 22
134	134
135	135	(ix) a City of Hagerstown fire and explosive investigator as defined 23
136	136	in § 2–208.5 of the Criminal Procedure Article; and 24
137	137
138	138	(x) a Howard County fire and explosive investigator as defined in § 25
139	139	2–208.6 of the Criminal Procedure Article. 26
140	140
141	141	(3) “Police officer” does not include: 27
142	142
143	143	(i) an individual who serves as a police officer only because the 28
144	144	individual occupies another office or position; 29
145	145	4 HOUSE BILL 117
146	146
147	147
148	148	(ii) a sheriff, the Secretary of State Police, a commissioner of police, 1
149	149	a deputy or assistant commissioner of police, a chief of police, a deputy or assistant chief of 2
150	150	police, or another individual with an equivalent title who is appointed or employed by a 3
151	151	government to exercise equivalent supervisory authority; or 4
152	152
153	153	(iii) a member of the Maryland National Guard who: 5
154	154
155	155	1. is under the control and jurisdiction of the Military 6
156	156	Department; 7
157	157
158	158	2. is assigned to the military property designated as the 8
159	159	Martin State Airport; and 9
160	160
161	161	3. is charged with exercising police powers in and for the 10
162	162	Martin State Airport. 11
163	163
164	164	3–209. 12
165	165
166	166	(a) The Commission shall certify as a police officer each individual who: 13
167	167
168	168	(1) (i) satisfactorily meets the standards of the Commission; or 14
169	169
170	170	(ii) provides the Commission with sufficient evidence that the 15
171	171	individual has satisfactorily completed a training program in another state of equal quality 16
172	172	and content as required by the Commission; 17
173	173
174	174	(2) submits to a mental health screening by a licensed mental health 18
175	175	professional; 19
176	176
177	177	(3) EXCEPT AS PROVIDED I N SUBSECTION (G) OF THIS SECTION , 20
178	178	submits to a physical agility assessment as determined by the Commission; 21
179	179
180	180	(4) submits to a criminal history records check in accordance with § 22
181	181	3–209.1 of this subtitle; and 23
182	182
183	183	(5) (i) is a United States citizen; or 24
184	184
185	185	(ii) subject to subsection (b) of this section, is a permanent legal 25
186	186	resident of the United States and an honorably discharged veteran of the United States 26
187	187	armed forces, provided that the individual has applied to obtain United States citizenship 27
188	188	and the application is still pending approval. 28
189	189
190	190	(b) The certification of a police officer who fails to obtain United States citizenship 29
191	191	as required by subsection [(a)(4)(ii)] (A)(5)(II) of this section shall be terminated by the 30
192	192	Commission. 31
193	193	HOUSE BILL 117 5
194	194
195	195
196	196	(c) The Commission may certify as a police officer an individual who is not 1
197	197	considered a police officer under § 3–201(f)(3) of this subtitle if the individual meets the 2
198	198	selection and training standards of the Commission. 3
199	199
200	200	(d) Each certificate issued to a police officer under this subtitle remains the 4
201	201	property of the Commission. 5
202	202
203	203	(e) [As] EXCEPT AS PROVIDE D IN SUBSECTION (G) OF THIS SECTION , AS a 6
204	204	condition of certification, a police officer shall submit to a mental health assessment every 7
205	205	2 years and an annual physical agility assessment to establish continuing fitness to carry 8
206	206	out the officer’s assigned duties as a police officer. 9
207	207
208	208	(f) Prior cannabis use is not a disqualifier for certification as a police officer. 10
209	209
210	210	(G) AN INDIVIDUAL IS NOT REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TO THE PHY SICAL AGILITY 11
211	211	ASSESSMENT REQUIRED UNDER THIS SECTION I F THE INDIVIDUAL : 12
212	212
213	213	(1) WAS A POLICE OFFICER , OR THE EQUIVALENT OF A POLICE 13
214	214	OFFICER IN ANOTHER S TATE, BEFORE JANUARY 1, 2012; AND 14
215	215
216	216	(2) AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATION UNDER THIS 15
217	217	SECTION, HAS A CUMULATIVE TOT AL OF AT LEAST 20 YEARS OF SERVICE AS A POLICE 16
218	218	OFFICER, OR THE EQUIVALENT OF A POLICE OFFICER IN ANOTHER STATE . 17
219	219
220	220	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 18
221	221	October 1, 2023. 19