HB 1293 Maryland House of Delegates · 2025 Regular Session

Baltimore City - Office of the Sheriff - Neighborhood Services Unit

HB 1293 establishes a Neighborhood Services Unit within Baltimore City’s Office of the Sheriff to enforce local alcoholic beverage laws. It requires this unit to partner with Baltimore City’s Board of License Commissioners, formalizing their roles through a required memorandum of understanding (codified in Sections 2-316.1 and 12-2605 of Maryland law). The bill redirects revenue from certain court surcharges - specifically 10% of fees from civil cases like tenant disputes - to fund the unit’s operations and enhance sheriff services. This creates a new structural partnership for alcohol law enforcement in Baltimore City, effective October 1, 2025.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House of Delegates Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

Signed into Law

May 2025

Introduced Feb 7, 2025 Signed May 13, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Third - Baltimore City - Office of the Sheriff - Neighborhood Services Unit → Enrolled - Baltimore City - Office of the Sheriff - Neighborhood Services Unit · 4 edits · May 13, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was finalized as an Enrolled Bill, moving it from a draft stage to a version ready for the Governor's signature. Substantively, the bill reorganized the legal framework for the Neighborhood Services Unit, clarifying its partnership with the Board of License Commissioners and specifying that its funding comes from surcharges on civil court cases. The text was cleaned up to remove bracketed editorial marks and consolidate related legal sections.

Scope change

The bill's scope was clarified by reorganizing the Articles and Sections it modifies, specifically linking the Neighborhood Services Unit's funding directly to the Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis article and the Courts article.

TECHNICAL

Removed editorial markup (brackets, strike-throughs) and formatting inconsistencies from the draft version to create a clean, final legal text.

REQUIREMENT

Added a requirement for the Board of License Commissioners to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Neighborhood Services Unit that details their specific roles and responsibilities.

FISCAL

Revised the funding mechanism for the Neighborhood Services Unit to explicitly state that its funding source is derived from surcharges on civil court filing fees, as mandated by a new section.

DEFINITION

Added a new definition for the Neighborhood Services Unit within the Courts Article to ensure consistency across different sections of the law.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 19, 2025 · House of Delegates Mar 24, 2025

How they voted

44–0

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 46

Mar 19, 2025

D Democratic33

31 Yea 2

93% Yea

R Republican13

13 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

May 13, 2025

Signed into law

Approved by the Governor - Chapter 515

executive

Apr 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed Enrolled

lower

Apr 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Third Reading Passed

lower

Apr 7, 2025

Introduced

House Concurs Senate Amendments

lower

Apr 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Third Reading Passed

upper

Apr 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

upper

Apr 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments Report by Judicial Proceedings

upper

Mar 24, 2025

House Of Delegates · Passed

House of Delegates Vote: pass (135-0-4)

house of delegates

Mar 19, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (44-0-2)

senate

Mar 14, 2025

Committee

Referred Judicial Proceedings

upper

Mar 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Third Reading Passed

lower

Mar 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed

lower

Mar 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable Report by Judiciary

lower

Feb 7, 2025

Committee

First Reading Judiciary

lower

4 primary · 0 co-sponsors