Maryland 2024 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB748 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	hb0748
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 748
8	8	P1 4lr1891
9	9
10	10	By: Delegates Cardin, Allen, Attar, Edelson, Kaiser, Kaufman, Rosenberg,
11	11	Schmidt, Solomon, Spiegel, Stein, and Vogel
12	12	Introduced and read first time: January 31, 2024
13	13	Assigned to: Judiciary
14	14
15	15	A BILL ENTITLED
16	16
17	17	AN ACT concerning 1
18	18
19	19	State Government – Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention – 2
20	20	Code of Conduct 3
21	21
22	22	FOR the purpose of requiring the Attorney General to adopt a code of conduct for members 4
23	23	of the Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention, adopt a policy for 5
24	24	investigating violations of the code of conduct, and establish a process for members 6
25	25	of the public to report alleged violations; authorizing the Attorney General to 7
26	26	suspend or remove members of the Commission under certain circumstances; and 8
27	27	generally relating to a code of conduct for members of the Commission on Hate Crime 9
28	28	Response and Prevention. 10
29	29
30	30	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 11
31	31	Article – State Government 12
32	32	Section 6–802 13
33	33	Annotated Code of Maryland 14
34	34	(2021 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 15
35	35
36	36	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 16
37	37	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 17
38	38
39	39	Article – State Government 18
40	40
41	41	6–802. 19
42	42
43	43	(a) There is a Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention in the Office 20
44	44	of the Attorney General. 21
45	45
46	46	(b) The Commission consists of the following members, appointed by the Attorney 22
47	47	General: 23
48	48	2 HOUSE BILL 748
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50	50
51	51	(1) one representative of the Anti–Defamation League; 1
52	52
53	53	(2) one representative of the Asian American and Pacific Islander 2
54	54	community; 3
55	55
56	56	(3) one representative of the Women’s Law Center; 4
57	57
58	58	(4) one representative of the Baltimore Jewish Council; 5
59	59
60	60	(5) one representative of the Coalition Opposed to Violence and Extremism; 6
61	61
62	62	(6) one representative of the Council on American–Islamic Relations 7
63	63	Maryland Office; 8
64	64
65	65	(7) one representative of Free State Justice; 9
66	66
67	67	(8) one representative of the Jewish Community Relations Council; 10
68	68
69	69	(9) one representative of the Immigration Outreach Service Center; 11
70	70
71	71	(10) one representative of the Maryland Association of Human 12
72	72	Relations/Human Rights Agencies; 13
73	73
74	74	(11) one representative of the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association; 14
75	75
76	76	(12) one representative of the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights; 15
77	77
78	78	(13) one representative of the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center; 16
79	79
80	80	(14) one representative of the Maryland Center for School Safety; 17
81	81
82	82	(15) one representative of the Maryland Sheriffs’ Association; 18
83	83
84	84	(16) one representative of the Maryland State’s Attorneys’ Association; 19
85	85
86	86	(17) one representative of the National Alliance on Mental Illness; 20
87	87
88	88	(18) one representative of the National Association for the Advancement of 21
89	89	Colored People; 22
90	90
91	91	(19) one representative of the Pride Center of Maryland; 23
92	92
93	93	(20) one representative of the Sikh Coalition; and 24
94	94
95	95	(21) two members of the general public. 25
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97	97	(c) (1) The term of an appointed member of the Commission is 4 years. 26 HOUSE BILL 748 3
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99	99
100	100
101	101	(2) The terms of the appointed members are staggered as required by the 1
102	102	terms provided for members of the Commission on June 1, 2023. 2
103	103
104	104	(3) At the end of a term, an appointed member continues to serve until a 3
105	105	successor is appointed and qualifies. 4
106	106
107	107	(4) A member who is appointed after a term has begun serves only for the 5
108	108	rest of the term and until a successor is appointed and qualifies. 6
109	109
110	110	(D) (1) THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SHALL ADOPT A ND MAKE PUBLICLY 7
111	111	AVAILABLE: 8
112	112
113	113	(I) A CODE OF CONDUCT FO R MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION; 9
114	114	AND 10
115	115
116	116	(II) A POLICY FOR INVESTI GATING VIOLATIONS OF THE CODE OF 11
117	117	CONDUCT. 12
118	118
119	119	(2) THE ATTORNEY GENERAL MAY SUSPEND A MEMBER OF THE 13
120	120	COMMISSION PENDING TH E RESULTS OF AN INVE STIGATION CONSISTENT WITH THE 14
121	121	POLICY ADOPTED UNDER PARAGRAPH (1) OF THIS SUBSECTION . 15
122	122
123	123	(3) THE ATTORNEY GENERAL MAY REMOVE A MEMBER OF THE 16
124	124	COMMISSION WHO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, AFTER AN INVESTIGATI ON 17
125	125	CONSISTENT WITH THE POLICY ADOPTED UNDER PARAGRAPH (1) OF THIS 18
126	126	SUBSECTION, FINDS HAS VIOLATED THE CODE OF CONDUCT. 19
127	127
128	128	(4) THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SHALL ESTABLISH A PROCESS BY 20
129	129	WHICH MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC MAY REPORT AL LEGED VIOLATIONS OF THE CODE 21
130	130	OF CONDUCT BY MEMBER S OF THE COMMISSION. 22
131	131
132	132	[(d)] (E) (1) The Attorney General, or the Attorney General’s designee, is the 23
133	133	chair of the Commission. 24
134	134
135	135	(2) The Office of the Attorney General shall provide staff for the 25
136	136	Commission. 26
137	137
138	138	[(e)] (F) In fiscal year 2025 and in each fiscal year thereafter, the Governor shall 27
139	139	include funds in the State budget to implement this section, including funds to: 28
140	140
141	141	(1) employ a full–time assistant Attorney General to staff the Commission; 29
142	142	and 30
143	143
144	144	(2) operate and maintain the office. 31 4 HOUSE BILL 748
145	145
146	146
147	147
148	148	[(f)] (G) (1) A majority of members of the Commission shall constitute a 1
149	149	quorum for the transaction of business. 2
150	150
151	151	(2) The Commission may adopt rules governing the administration and 3
152	152	proceedings of the Commission. 4
153	153
154	154	[(g)] (H) A member of the Commission: 5
155	155
156	156	(1) may not receive compensation as a member of the Commission; but 6
157	157
158	158	(2) is entitled to reimbursement for expenses under the Standard State 7
159	159	Travel Regulations, as provided in the State budget. 8
160	160
161	161	[(h)] (I) The Commission shall: 9
162	162
163	163	(1) develop strategies to prevent and respond to hate crime activity; and 10
164	164
165	165	(2) evaluate State laws and policies relating to hate crimes. 11
166	166
167	167	[(i)] (J) (1) On or before December 1 each year, beginning in 2024, the 12
168	168	Commission shall report to the State Department of Education on policy recommendations 13
169	169	to address hate crimes that occur in schools. 14
170	170
171	171	(2) On or before December 1 each year, beginning in 2024, the Commission 15
172	172	shall report to the General Assembly, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government 16
173	173	Article, on legislative recommendations to address hate crimes in the State. 17
174	174
175	175	(3) ON OR BEFORE DECEMBER 1, 2025, AND EACH YEAR 18
176	176	THEREAFTER , THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SHALL REPORT TO THE GENERAL 19
177	177	ASSEMBLY, IN ACCORDANCE WITH § 2–1257 OF THIS ARTICLE , ON ANY 20
178	178	INVESTIGATIONS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CONDUCTS UNDE R SUBSECTION (D) OF 21
179	179	THIS SECTION. 22
180	180
181	181	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall t ake effect 23
182	182	October 1, 2024. 24