Task Force on Education Funding and Student Population Growth
HB0064 creates a new criminal offense for knowingly or willfully, without permission, obtaining or exerting control over mail or a package delivered to another person with the intent to deprive the owner of it. The bill defines “mail or package” broadly to include items delivered or left for pickup by the U.S. Postal Service or a delivery service company that delivers tangible personal property. A violation is classified as a felony punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.
The bill also amends Maryland’s victim-notification laws to ensure that victims of this new mail- or package-theft offense receive mandatory notice of each related court proceeding, the right to submit a victim impact statement, any posttrial proceedings, appeals, and sentence review. These notice requirements apply regardless of whether the victim has filed a notification request form or used the MDEC electronic protocol. The bill further updates procedures for filing, transmitting, and discontinuing victim-notification requests in circuit and juvenile court cases, including electronic handling through the MDEC system and confidentiality protections for victim contact information.
HB0064 would add a new felony theft offense to the Criminal Law Article and expand the scope of victim-notification obligations in the Criminal Procedure Article for cases involving mail or package theft. It would give prosecutors and courts specific duties to notify victims in these cases and would make related procedural changes for notice forms, electronic filing, and confidentiality under the MDEC system. The bill affects individuals accused of package or mail theft, victims of those crimes, prosecuting attorneys, clerks of court, and court systems handling criminal and juvenile cases.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded votes or committee testimony in the provided materials, the bill appears to be framed as a public-safety and consumer-protection measure aimed at addressing package theft and improving victim awareness in the criminal process. The overall tone of the legislation is punitive toward offenders and supportive of victims’ rights. No formal opposition or support is documented in the supplied context, so there is no recorded committee sentiment to assess beyond the bill’s protective intent.
The main policy choice in the bill is the creation of a felony penalty for mail and package theft, which may raise questions about proportionality, charging discretion, and overlap with existing theft or mail-related offenses. A second area of potential contention is the automatic victim-notification requirement for these cases, which imposes mandatory notice duties on prosecutors even when a victim has not filed a request form. The bill also relies on MDEC electronic procedures and confidentiality rules, which could prompt operational concerns for courts and prosecutors about implementation, record handling, and administrative burden.