EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb0203*
HOUSE BILL 203
F1, E4 EMERGENCY BILL 3lr0891
HB 1268/22 – JUD
By: Delegate R. Long
Introduced and read first time: January 20, 2023
Assigned to: Judiciary
A BILL ENTITLED
AN ACT concerning 1
Education – Reporting Arrests of Students – Alterations 2
FOR the purpose of requiring a law enforcement agency making an arrest of a student for 3
a reportable offense or an offense related to the student’s membership in a criminal 4
organization to report the arrest to the Maryland Center for School Safety, the State 5
Board of Education, and the State’s Attorney; requiring the State’s Attorney to notify 6
the Maryland Center for School Safety and the State Board of the disposition of the 7
offense; authorizing the Maryland Center for School Safety and the State Board to 8
transmit certain information regarding the arrest to a certain county superintendent 9
of schools or a certain nonpublic school in a certain manner under certain 10
circumstances; requiring a county superintendent to provide a certain notice to the 11
Maryland Center for School Safety and the State Board under certain circumstances; 12
and generally relating to reporting arrests of students attending public and 13
nonpublic schools in the State. 14
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 15
Article – Education 16
Section 7–303 17
Annotated Code of Maryland 18
(2022 Replacement Volume) 19
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 20
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 21
Article – Education 22
7–303. 23
(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 24
(2) “Criminal organization” has the meaning stated in § 9–801 of the 25 2 HOUSE BILL 203
Criminal Law Article. 1
(3) “Law enforcement agency” means the law enforcement agencies listed 2
in § 3–101(e) of the Public Safety Article. 3
(4) “Local school system” means the schools and school programs under the 4
supervision of the local superintendent. 5
(5) “Local superintendent” means: 6
(i) The county superintendent, for the county in which a student is 7
enrolled, or a designee of the superintendent, who is an administrator; or 8
(ii) The superintendent of schools for the: 9
1. Archdiocese of Baltimore; 10
2. Archdiocese of Washington; and 11
3. Catholic Diocese of Wilmington. 12
(6) “Reportable offense” means an offense that: 13
(i) Occurred off school premises; 14
(ii) Did not occur at an event sponsored by the school; and 15
(iii) Involved any of the following: 16
1. A crime of violence, as defined in § 14–101 of the Criminal 17
Law Article; 18
2. Any of the offenses enumerated in § 3–8A–03(e)(4) of the 19
Courts Article; 20
3. A violation of § 4–101, § 4–102, § 4–203, or § 4–204 of the 21
Criminal Law Article; 22
4. A violation of § 5–602, § 5–603, § 5–604, § 5–605, § 5–606, 23
§ 5–607, § 5–608, § 5–608.1, § 5–609, § 5–612, § 5–613, § 5–614, § 5–617, § 5–618, § 5–627, 24
or § 5–628 of the Criminal Law Article; 25
5. A violation of § 4–503, § 9–504, or § 9–505 of the Criminal 26
Law Article; 27
6. A violation of § 6–102, § 6–103, § 6–104, or § 6–105 of the 28
Criminal Law Article; 29 HOUSE BILL 203 3
7. A violation of § 9–802 or § 9–803 of the Criminal Law 1
Article; 2
8. A violation of § 3–203 of the Criminal Law Article; 3
9. A violation of § 6–301 of the Criminal Law Article; 4
10. A violation of § 9–302, § 9–303, or § 9–305 of the Criminal 5
Law Article; 6
11. A violation of § 7–105 of the Criminal Law Article; 7
12. A violation of § 6–202 of the Criminal Law Article; or 8
13. A violation of § 10–606 of the Criminal Law Article. 9
(7) “School principal” means the principal of the public or nonpublic school 10
in which a student is enrolled, or a designee of the principal, who is an administrator. 11
(8) (i) “School security officer” includes a school principal, another 12
school administrator, a law enforcement officer, or other individual employed by a local 13
school system or a local government who is designated by the county superintendent or a 14
school principal to help maintain the security and safety of a school. 15
(ii) “School security officer” does not include a teacher. 16
(9) “Student” means an individual enrolled in a public school system or 17
nonpublic school in the State who is 5 years of age or older and under 22 years of age. 18
(b) If a student is arrested for a reportable offense or an offense that is related to 19
the student’s membership in a criminal organization, the law enforcement agency making 20
the arrest[: 21
(1) Shall] SHALL notify the following [individuals] PERSONS of the arrest 22
and the charges within 24 hours of the arrest or as soon as practicable: 23
[(i)] (1) The local superintendent; 24
[(ii)] (2) The school principal; [and] 25
[(iii)] (3) For a school that has a school security officer, the school 26
security officer; [and] 27
(4) THE MARYLAND CENTER FOR SCHOOL SAFETY; 28
4 HOUSE BILL 203
(5) THE STATE BOARD; AND 1
[(2)] (6) [May notify the] THE State’s Attorney [of the arrest and 2
charges]. 3
(c) The State’s Attorney shall promptly notify [either] the local superintendent 4
[or], the school principal, THE MARYLAND CENTER FOR SCHOOL SAFETY, AND THE 5
STATE BOARD of the disposition of the reportable offense required to be reported under 6
subsection (b) of this section. 7
(d) Except by order of a juvenile court or other court upon good cause shown, the 8
information obtained by [an individual] A PERSON pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) of 9
this section: 10
(1) Is confidential and may not be redisclosed by subpoena or otherwise 11
except as provided pursuant to subsections (e) [and], (f), AND (G) of this section; and 12
(2) May not be made part of the student’s permanent educational record. 13
(e) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (d) of this section, nothing 14
shall prohibit a local superintendent [or], A school principal, THE MARYLAND CENTER 15
FOR SCHOOL SAFETY, OR THE STATE BOARD from transmitting the information 16
obtained pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) of this section as a confidential file to the local 17
superintendent of another public school system in the State or another nonpublic school in 18
the State in which the student has enrolled or been transferred in order to carry out the 19
purposes of this section if the disposition of the reportable offense was a conviction or an 20
adjudication of delinquency or the criminal charge or delinquency petition is still pending. 21
(2) A local superintendent or school principal who transmits information 22
about a student under this subsection shall include in the transmittal information 23
regarding any educational programming and related services provided to the student. 24
(F) NOTWITHSTANDING THE P ROVISIONS OF SUBSECT ION (D) OF THIS 25
SECTION, A LOCAL SUPERIN TENDENT SHALL NOTIFY THE MARYLAND CENTER FOR 26
SCHOOL SAFETY AND THE STATE BOARD WHEN A STUDENT WHOSE INFORMATION 27
HAS BEEN OBTAINED UN DER SUBSECTION (B) OF THIS SECTION NO L ONGER RESIDES 28
WITHIN THE JURISDICT ION OF THE COUNTY BO ARD. 29
[(f)] (G) The State Board shall adopt regulations to ensure that information 30
obtained by a local superintendent, a school principal, [or] a school security officer, THE 31
MARYLAND CENTER FOR SCHOOL SAFETY, OR THE STATE BOARD under subsections 32
(b), (c), [and] (e), AND (F) of this section is: 33
(1) Used to provide appropriate educational programming and related 34
services to the student and to maintain a safe and secure school environment for students 35 HOUSE BILL 203 5
and school personnel; 1
(2) Transmitted only to school personnel of the school in which the student 2
is enrolled, THE MARYLAND CENTER FOR SCHOOL SAFETY, OR THE STATE BOARD as 3
necessary to carry out the purposes set forth in item (1) of this subsection; and 4
(3) Destroyed when the student graduates or otherwise permanently 5
leaves school or turns 22 years old, whichever occurs first. 6
[(g)] (H) (1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, 7
the local superintendent and the school principal shall consider prohibiting a student who 8
is arrested for a reportable offense involving rape or a sexual offense from attending the 9
same school or riding on the same school bus as the alleged victim of the reportable offense 10
if such action is necessary or appropriate to protect the physical or psychological well–being 11
of the alleged victim. 12
(2) If a student is arrested for a reportable offense involving rape or a 13
sexual offense and is convicted of or adjudicated delinquent for the rape or sexual offense, 14
the student may not attend the same school or ride on the same school bus as the victim. 15
[(h)] (I) Nothing in this section is intended to limit the manner in which a local 16
school obtains information or uses information obtained by any lawful means other than 17
that set forth in subsections (b), (c), [and] (e), AND (F) of this section. 18
[(i)] (J) Each public school that enrolls students in grades six through twelve in 19
the State shall designate at least one school security officer. 20
[(j)] (K) (1) On or before December 30 each year, the Department, in 21
accordance with State and federal privacy laws, shall submit to the Governor and, in 22
accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the General Assembly a report 23
that includes the following information about each reportable offense for which a local 24
school received information under subsection (b) of this section in the preceding school year: 25
(i) The nature of the reportable offense; 26
(ii) Verification that the offense occurred off school premises; 27
(iii) Action taken by the local school and county board after being 28
notified of the reportable offense; 29
(iv) The race, ethnicity, gender, and disability status of the student 30
arrested for the reportable offense; 31
(v) The grade of the student arrested for the reportable offense; 32
(vi) The regular school program of the student arrested for the 33 6 HOUSE BILL 203
reportable offense; 1
(vii) Whether the student’s regular school program was altered as a 2
result of the reportable offense; 3
(viii) If the student was removed from the student’s regular school 4
program as a result of the reportable offense: 5
1. The amount of time during which the student was 6
removed; and 7
2. The student’s placement and educational programming 8
during the period of removal; and 9
(ix) If removed from the student’s regular school program, the 10
student’s academic performance during the time period the student was removed, including 11
attendance, grades, and standardized test scores, and any additional disciplinary actions. 12
(2) Each county board and public school shall provide the Department with 13
any information necessary to issue its report in accordance with this section. 14
[(k)] (L) If a student is removed or excluded from the student’s regular school 15
program for a reportable offense, the principal or county superintendent shall invite the 16
student’s attorney, if the student has an attorney, to participate in the conference between 17
the student or the student’s parent or guardian and the principal or county superintendent, 18
and the manifestation determination review, if applicable. 19
SECTION 2. AND BE I T FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act is an emergency 20
measure, is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health or safety, has 21
been passed by a yea and nay vote supported by three–fifths of all the members elected to 22
each of the two Houses of the General Assembly, and shall take effect from the date it is 23
enacted. 24