Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB139 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	hb0139
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 139
8	8	E4 5lr1683
9	9	(PRE–FILED)
10	10	By: Delegate Young
11	11	Requested: November 1, 2024
12	12	Introduced and read first time: January 8, 2025
13	13	Assigned to: Judiciary
14	14
15	15	A BILL ENTITLED
16	16
17	17	AN ACT concerning 1
18	18
19	19	Public Safety – Police Accountability – Deadline for Completion of Investigation 2
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of requiring the investigating unit of a law enforcement agency to 3
22	22	complete its review of a certain complaint and forward its investigatory files to the 4
23	23	administrative charging committee within a certain period of time after the filing of 5
24	24	the complaint; and generally relating to police accountability. 6
25	25
26	26	BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 7
27	27	Article – Public Safety 8
28	28	Section 3–104 9
29	29	Annotated Code of Maryland 10
30	30	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 11
31	31
32	32	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 12
33	33	Article – Public Safety 13
34	34	Section 3–113 14
35	35	Annotated Code of Maryland 15
36	36	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 16
37	37
38	38	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 17
39	39	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 18
40	40
41	41	Article – Public Safety 19
42	42
43	43	3–104. 20
44	44
45	45	(a) (1) Each county shall have one administrative charging committee to serve 21
46	46	countywide law enforcement agencies and local law enforcement agencies within the 22
47	47	county. 23
48	48	2 HOUSE BILL 139
49	49
50	50
51	51	(2) A county administrative charging committee shall be composed of: 1
52	52
53	53	(i) the chair of the county’s police accountability board, or another 2
54	54	member of the accountability board designated by the chair of the accountability board; 3
55	55
56	56	(ii) two civilian members selected by the county’s police 4
57	57	accountability board; and 5
58	58
59	59	(iii) two civilian members selected by the chief executive officer of the 6
60	60	county. 7
61	61
62	62	(b) (1) There shall be at least one statewide administrative charging 8
63	63	committee to serve statewide and bi–county law enforcement agencies. 9
64	64
65	65	(2) A statewide administrative charging committee shall be composed of: 10
66	66
67	67	(i) three civilian members appointed by the Governor; 11
68	68
69	69	(ii) one civilian member appointed by the President of the Senate; 12
70	70	and 13
71	71
72	72	(iii) one civilian member appointed by the Speaker of the House. 14
73	73
74	74	(c) Before serving as a member of an administrative charging committee, an 15
75	75	individual shall receive training on matters relating to police procedures from the 16
76	76	Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission. 17
77	77
78	78	(d) On completion of an investigation of a complaint of police misconduct 18
79	79	involving a member of the public and a police officer, regardless of whether the complaint 19
80	80	originated from within the law enforcement agency or from an external source, the law 20
81	81	enforcement agency shall forward to the appropriate administrative charging committee 21
82	82	the investigatory files for the matter. 22
83	83
84	84	(e) An administrative charging committee shall: 23
85	85
86	86	(1) review the findings of a law enforcement agency’s investigation 24
87	87	conducted and forwarded in accordance with subsection (d) of this section; 25
88	88
89	89	(2) make a determination that the police officer who is subject to 26
90	90	investigation shall be: 27
91	91
92	92	(i) administratively charged; or 28
93	93
94	94	(ii) not administratively charged; 29
95	95
96	96	(3) if the police officer is charged, recommend discipline in accordance with 30
97	97	the law enforcement agency’s disciplinary matrix established in accordance with § 3–105 31 HOUSE BILL 139 3
98	98
99	99
100	100	of this subtitle; 1
101	101
102	102	(4) review any body camera footage that may be relevant to the matters 2
103	103	covered in the complaint of misconduct; 3
104	104
105	105	(5) authorize a police officer called to appear before an administrative 4
106	106	charging committee to be accompanied by a representative; 5
107	107
108	108	(6) issue a written opinion that describes in detail its findings, 6
109	109	determinations, and recommendations; and 7
110	110
111	111	(7) forward the written opinion to the chief of the law enforcement agency, 8
112	112	the police officer, and the complainant. 9
113	113
114	114	(f) In executing its duties in accordance with subsection (e) of this section, an 10
115	115	administrative charging committee may: 11
116	116
117	117	(1) request information or action from the law enforcement agency that 12
118	118	conducted the investigation, including requiring additional investigation and the issuance 13
119	119	of subpoenas; 14
120	120
121	121	(2) if the police officer is not administratively charged, make a 15
122	122	determination that: 16
123	123
124	124	(i) the allegations against the police officer are unfounded; or 17
125	125
126	126	(ii) the police officer is exonerated; and 18
127	127
128	128	(3) record, in writing, any failure of supervision that caused or contributed 19
129	129	to a police officer’s misconduct. 20
130	130
131	131	(g) An administrative charging committee shall meet once per month or as 21
132	132	needed. 22
133	133
134	134	(h) A member of an administrative charging committee shall maintain 23
135	135	confidentiality relating to a matter being considered by the administrative charging 24
136	136	committee until final disposition of the matter. 25
137	137
138	138	3–113. 26
139	139
140	140	(a) (1) The investigating unit of a law enforcement agency shall immediately 27
141	141	review a complaint by a member of the public alleging police officer misconduct. 28
142	142
143	143	(2) THE INVESTIGATING UNI T SHALL COMPLETE ITS REVIEW AND 29
144	144	FORWARD ITS INVESTIG ATORY FILES TO THE A DMINISTRATIVE CHARGI NG 30
145	145	COMMITTEE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE , BUT NOT LATER THAN 9 MONTHS AFTER THE 31
146	146	FILING OF A COMPLAIN T. 32 4 HOUSE BILL 139
147	147
148	148
149	149
150	150	(b) An administrative charging committee shall review and make a determination 1
151	151	or ask for further review within 30 days after completion of the investigating unit’s review. 2
152	152
153	153	(c) The process of review by the investigating unit through disposition by the 3
154	154	administrative charging committee shall be completed within 1 year and 1 day after the 4
155	155	filing of a complaint by a citizen. 5
156	156
157	157	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 6
158	158	October 1, 2025. 7