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The Annotated Code of Maryland, published by The
Michie Company
LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer informa ...
, is the official
codification of the
statutory
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
laws of Maryland
The Laws of Maryland comprise the session laws have been enacted by the Maryland General Assembly each year. According to the Boston College Law library, session laws are "useful in determining which laws were in force at a particular time." Unli ...
. It is organized into 36 named articles. The previous code, organized into numbered articles, has been repealed.
[Maryland General Assembly, Legislative Policy Committee, Defunct Units](_blank)
/ref>
Amendment of the Code
The Annotated Code of Maryland is amended through the legislative process involving both bodies of the Maryland General Assembly
The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamb ...
, the House of Delegates and the Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. A bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
is a proposal to change, repeal, or add to existing state law. A House Bill (HB) is one introduced in the House of Delegates (for example: HB 6); a Senate Bill
A bill is proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature as well as, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an '' ...
(SB), in the Senate.
Bills are designated by number, in the order of introduction in each house. For example, HB 16 refers to the sixteenth bill introduced in the House of Delegates. The numbering starts afresh each legislative session. The names of the legislator who introduced the bill and of any sponsors becomes part of the bill title. Bills listed as "The Speaker (By Request of Administration)", "The President (By Request of Administration)", "Minority Leader (By Request of Administration)", or "Committee Chair (By Request of Department)" are bills proposed by the Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
and state agencies and are not proposals of the Speaker of the House, the President of the Senate, the Minority Leader, or the respective Committee Chair. They are listed with the official title of a legislator rather than the Governor due to requirements in the Maryland Constitution
The current Constitution of the State of Maryland, which was ratified by the people of the state on September 18, 1867, forms the basic law for the U.S. state of Maryland. It replaced the short-lived Maryland Constitution of 1864 and is the fourt ...
.
The legislative procedure
A bill is proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature as well as, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an '' ...
, is divided into distinct stages:
* Drafting. The procedure begins when a Senator or Delegate decides to author a bill. A legislator sends the idea for the bill to the Department of Legislative Reference's bill drafting division, where it is drafted into bill form. The draft of the bill is returned to the legislator for introduction.
* Introduction or First Reading
A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature.
In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming, ...
. A bill is introduced or read the first time when the bill number, the name of the sponsor, and the descriptive title of the bill are read on the floor of the house.
* Committee hearing
In law, a hearing is a proceeding before a court or other decision-making body or officer, such as a government agency or a legislative committee.
Description
A hearing is generally distinguished from a trial in that it is usually shorter and o ...
. After introduction, a bill is assigned to the appropriate policy committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
, appropriate to the subject matter, for its first hearing. Notice of the hearing is published in the Maryland Register to allow for public comment. During the committee hearing the sponsor presents the bill to the committee, and testimony may be heard in support or opposition to the bill from any member of the public. The committee then votes on whether to pass the bill out of committee, or that it be passed as amended. Bills may be amended several times. It takes a majority vote of the committee membership for a bill to be passed and sent to the next committee or to the floor
A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the expected load ...
.
* Second reading
A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature.
In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming, ...
. A bill recommended for passage by committee is read a second time on the floor of the house. Legislators, not on the committee where the bill received its public hearing, may only offer amendments to the bill at this stage. House bills in the Senate may be amended by senators on second or third reading and Senate bills in the House may also be amended on second or third reading. After all amendments are considered, the presiding officer orders the bill to be printed for third reading. This printing would include any committee or floor amendments.
* Third reading
A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature.
In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming, ...
. A roll call vote
Deliberative assemblies – bodies that use parliamentary procedure to arrive at decisions – use several methods of voting on motions (formal proposal by members of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action). The regular meth ...
is taken. An ordinary bill needs a majority vote
A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster
two-thirds vote
A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...
, a bill requiring the Maryland Constitution
The current Constitution of the State of Maryland, which was ratified by the people of the state on September 18, 1867, forms the basic law for the U.S. state of Maryland. It replaced the short-lived Maryland Constitution of 1864 and is the fourt ...
to be amended requires a three-fifths vote.
* Second house. If the bill receives a constitutional
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princip ...
majority from the first house, the bill repeats the same steps in the other house. If the second house passes the bill without changing it, it is sent to the governor's desk.
* Resolution of Differences (concurrence
In Western jurisprudence, concurrence (also contemporaneity or simultaneity) is the apparent need to prove the simultaneous occurrence of both ("guilty action") and ("guilty mind"), to constitute a crime; except in crimes of strict liability ...
or conference). If a measure is amended in the second house and passed, it is returned to the house of origin for consideration of amendments. The house of origin may concur
In Western jurisprudence, concurrence (also contemporaneity or simultaneity) is the apparent need to prove the simultaneous occurrence of both ("guilty action") and ("guilty mind"), to constitute a crime; except in crimes of strict liability ...
with the amendments and send the bill to the governor or reject the amendments and submit it to a two-house conference committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
. Appointed by the Senate President and the House Speaker, a conference committee consists of three members of each house. The committee sends a report of its recommendations to each chamber which then can adopt or reject it. If the report is adopted, the bill is voted upon for final passage in each house. If the report is rejected by either house, the bill fails.
* Governor's action. 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.
* Override
Override may refer to:
* Dr. Gregory Herd, a Marvel Comics character formerly named Override
* Manual override, a function where an automated system is placed under manual control
* Method overriding, a subclassing feature in Object Oriented progr ...
s. A vetoed bill is returned to the house of origin, where a vote may be taken to override the governor's veto; a three-fifths vote of both houses is required to override a veto.
* Effective date. Each bill that is passed by the Legislature and approved by the Governor is assigned a chapter number by the Secretary of State. These chaptered bills are statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
s, and ordinarily become part of Maryland law. Ordinarily a law passed during a regular session takes effect October 1 of the same year. Emergency bills go into effect
In law, coming into force or entry into force (also called commencement) is the Legal process, process by which legislation, regulations, treaty, treaties and other legal instruments come to have legal force and effect. The term is closely relate ...
as soon as the governor signs them; these include acts calling for special elections and emergency measures necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety.
Recodification of articles
The Maryland General Assembly gradually recodified the state laws by repealing the versions organized into numbered articles in the black volumes and re-enacting new versions, which were organized into named articles and published in the red volumes. For example, Chapter 26 of the 2002 Laws of Maryland
The Laws of Maryland comprise the session laws have been enacted by the Maryland General Assembly each year. According to the Boston College Law library, session laws are "useful in determining which laws were in force at a particular time." Unli ...
recodified most of Article 27 into the Criminal Law Article. According to the Maryland State Department of Legislative Services, the state legislature committed to the recodification process in 1970. The revised articles were enacted in stages between 1973 and 2016; the 36th and last revised article to be enacted was the Alcoholic Beverages Article in 2016. The purpose of this process was to reorganize the laws, rather than to change their content or meaning.William H. Adkins II, Code Revision in Maryland, 34 Maryland Law Review 7 (1974)
/ref> Until the process was completed, the laws of the state of Maryland comprised both sets of volumes.
List of articles of the Code
Named articles
The following is a list of the 36 named articles of the code, with the year of enactment of each. Multiple entries mean that an article was enacted in stages.
*Agriculture (1973)
*Alcoholic Beverages (2016)
*Business Occupations and Professions (1989)
*Business Regulation (1992)
*Commercial Law (1975)
*Corporations and Associations (1975)
*Correctional Services (1999, 2008)
*Courts and Judicial Proceedings (1973)
*Criminal Law (2002)
*Criminal Procedure (2001, 2008)
*Economic Development (2008)
*Education (1978)
*Election Law (2002)
*Environment (1982, 1987)
*Estates and Trusts (1974)
*Family Law (1984)
*Financial Institutions (1980)
*General Provisions (2014)
*Health - General (1982)
*Health Occupations (1981)
*Housing and Community Development (Division I) (2005)
*Housing and Community Development (Division II) (2006)
*Human Services (2007)
*Insurance (1995, 1996, 1997)
*Labor and Employment (1991)
*Land Use (2012)
*Local Government (2013)
*Natural Resources (1973)
*Public Safety (2003)
*Public Utilities (1998, 2008, 2010)
*Real Property (1974)
*State Finance and Procurement (1985, 1988)
*State Government (1984, 1985)
**Human Relations Commission (2009)
*State Personnel and Pensions (1993, 1994)
*Tax - General (1988)
*Tax - Property (1985)
*Transportation (1977)
Numbered articles
The last numbered article was 2B Alcoholic Beverages, which was replaced with the corresponding named article in 2016.
The following is a list of some of the numbered articles, which were parts of the code before being reenacted and recodified into the named articles:
*1 Rules of Interpretation
*2B Alcoholic Beverages
*19 Comptroller
*20 Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland
*20A Tri-County Council for Western Maryland
*20B Tri-County Council for the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland
*20C Mid-Shore Regional Council
*20D Upper Shore Regional Council
*23 Miscellaneous Companies
*23A Corporations - Municipal
*23B Municipal Corporation Charter
*24 Political Subdivisions - Miscellaneous Provisions
*25 County Commissioners
*25A Charted Counties of Maryland
*25B Home Rule for Code Counties
*26 Miscellaneous Governmental Entities
*27 Crimes and Punishments
*27A Public Defender
*28 Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) is a bi-county agency that administers parks and planning in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland.
History
The commission was formed in 1927 by the Maryland G ...
*29 Washington Suburban Sanitary District
*31 Debt - Public
*34 Estrays - Vessals Adrift - Drift Log
*36 Fees of Officers
*38A Fires and Investigations
*41 Governor - Executive and Administrative Departments
*43C Maryland Health and Higher Education Facilities Authority
*45A Industrial Development
*48 Inspections
*49B Human Relations Commission
*49D Children, Youth and Family Services
*65 Militia
*66B Land Use
*75 Pleadings, Practice and Process at Law
*78A Public Works
*79 Releases and Receipts
*82 Riots
*83A Department of Business and Economic Development
*88A Department of State Police
*95 Treasurer
*96 1/2 Veterans
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maryland, Annotated Code of
United States state legal codes
Government of Maryland
Maryland law
Legal history of Maryland