Maddy summarySB 648 repeals the requirement for the Governor to approve medical parole decisions for incarcerated individuals serving life sentences. It removes a provision that previously allowed the Governor to disapprove such decisions within 180 days of receiving the Parole Commission's recommendation. The bill maintains existing medical parole criteria (e.g., chronic debilitation, no public safety risk) and all other procedural requirements, including medical evaluations, community support planning, and victim notification. This change directly affects life-sentence inmates who qualify for medical parole by streamlining the process to eliminate gubernatorial review. The bill focuses on policy implementation rather than outcome speculation.
Sponsored bills
Maddy summarySB 25 establishes specific qualifications for individuals appointed by Maryland courts as child custody evaluators. It requires evaluators to be licensed mental health professionals (such as psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, or marriage and family therapists) with defined training, experience, and expertise in areas like domestic violence, child trauma, and family dynamics. The bill mandates that courts cannot appoint someone who doesn't meet these standards, effective July 1, 2025. This directly affects courts, custody evaluators, and families involved in contested custody cases by ensuring evaluators have verified expertise to assess children's best interests.
Maddy summaryThis bill modifies Maryland's trust laws to protect certain assets for married couples. It allows a person who creates a trust for their spouse's lifetime benefit to not be considered the "settlor" for tax purposes, and prevents creditors from seizing trust assets under specific conditions. To qualify, the trust must be irrevocable, created for the spouse's benefit during their lifetime, and meet IRS requirements for qualified terminable interest property. This directly affects married individuals establishing such trusts, shielding their spouse's trust assets from creditors while the spouse is alive.
Maddy summarySB 135 clarifies that attorney-client privilege applies to communications between an attorney and a client who also serves as a fiduciary (such as a trustee or executor), even when fiduciary funds (like trust money) pay for the legal services. This directly affects individuals managing estates or trusts and their beneficiaries by ensuring confidential legal advice remains protected. The bill amends Maryland's Estates and Trusts law (Section 15-117) to explicitly state that using fiduciary funds for legal fees does not waive the privilege, and a fiduciary relationship alone cannot invalidate this protection. It takes effect October 1, 2025.
Maddy summarySB 110 changes Maryland's estate payment rules to prioritize unpaid child support. The bill moves unpaid child support to the sixth position in the payment order for estates with insufficient assets, placing it ahead of taxes and other claims. This directly affects child support recipients (who now get paid before tax collectors) and estate administrators (who must follow the new order). The key provision amends Maryland’s Estates and Trusts code to reorder payment priorities, ensuring child support obligations are addressed before taxes and most other debts. The change takes effect October 1, 2025.
Maddy summarySB 44 (Sherry and Christian's Law) requires individuals charged with reckless or negligent driving that causes a death to appear in court instead of paying fines upfront. It directly affects drivers convicted of causing fatal accidents through reckless or careless driving. The bill mandates court appearances and prohibits prepayment of fines, though judges may waive the appearance requirement for "good cause" after setting a court date. The law amends Maryland's transportation code to enforce these specific procedural changes for such offenses.
Maddy summarySB 545 amends Maryland's criminal code to prohibit possessing or viewing images depicting minors in sexual conduct, sadomasochistic abuse, or sexual excitement - whether actual or computer-generated images that appear indistinguishable from real children under 16. It specifically targets material that looks like real children (excluding drawings, cartoons, sculptures, or paintings) and adds penalties: up to 5 years for first-time possession/viewing (misdemeanor) and up to 10 years for repeat offenses (felony). The bill includes exceptions for parents possessing non-exploitative images of their own children and allows a defense if someone destroys the material or reports it to police. These changes update sections 11-207, 11-208, and add new section 11-208.2 to the Maryland Annotated Code.
Maddy summarySB 783 requires Maryland public school principals to investigate every student fight or physical struggle. It prohibits school staff from disciplining students who, after such an investigation, more likely than not used reasonable force necessary to protect themselves or escape an attack. If a student was wrongly disciplined during the investigation but later determined to have used justified force, the school must expunge all disciplinary documentation from their record. The law directly affects students involved in school conflicts, school administrators, and staff responsible for discipline, taking effect July 1, 2025.
Maddy summarySB 791 increases the minimum classroom teaching time requirement for Maryland public school teachers on career ladder levels 1-3 from 60% to 80% of their working time. This change directly affects teachers pursuing or holding these career ladder levels, requiring them to spend more time in classrooms and less on non-instructional duties. The bill specifies that the remaining 20% of time must be used for activities like improving instruction, tutoring struggling students, working with high-need populations, or participating in professional development. The policy takes effect July 1, 2025, without altering the career ladder's structure or progression requirements.
Maddy summarySB 607 defines "transportation protection agreements" as arrangements primarily coordinating the preparation and transportation of human remains, hydrolyzed remains, or soil remains. The bill explicitly excludes these agreements from being classified as "preneed burial contracts" under Maryland’s Cemetery Act or "pre-need contracts" under its Morticians and Funeral Directors Act. It also clarifies that such agreements are not insurance contracts and are not subject to regulation under Maryland’s Insurance Article. This directly affects funeral service providers offering transportation coordination services, removing them from specific regulatory frameworks for burial contracts and insurance. The bill creates new definitions and provisions to ensure these agreements operate outside existing regulatory categories.