Criminal Law - Fraud - Possession of Residential Real Property
HB0847 establishes a new Domestic Violence Offender Registry within the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. The bill requires the Department to create and maintain a centralized computerized registry of people who have been convicted three or more times of a “domestically related crime,” a term that includes crimes of domestic violence and certain crimes committed against a victim with whom the defendant had a sexual relationship within the prior 12 months. The registry must include identifying information such as name, address, offense information, and a digital image, and the information must be made publicly available through the internet, telephone, written request, and in person.
The bill also creates a registration process administered through county sheriffs. Covered individuals must register upon release, probation, suspended sentence, or a non-incarceration sentence, and must update their information annually and within 10 days of an address change. Registration generally lasts 15 years from the latest conviction or release, with additional time added for later qualifying convictions. A person may seek exemption from registration in circuit court if the court finds the person does not pose a risk of reoffending and is not a danger to others, and the bill provides for removal of registry information if convictions are reversed, vacated, set aside, or pardoned.
The bill would add a new subtitle to the Criminal Procedure Article and would operate alongside existing domestic violence definitions in the Family Law Article. It also creates a misdemeanor offense for knowingly failing to register or providing inaccurate information, punishable by a fine of up to $2,000. The act is set to take effect October 1, 2025.
Because the bill text and available context do not include committee testimony or recorded votes, the overall sentiment cannot be measured from formal debate history. Based on the bill’s structure, it appears designed to strengthen public access to information about repeat domestic violence offenders and to add monitoring and enforcement tools for law enforcement and the public. The absence of recorded opposition or support in the provided materials means no clear consensus or controversy can be confirmed from the available record.
HB0847 would create a new statutory scheme in the Criminal Procedure Article requiring the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and county sheriffs to collect, maintain, and disseminate domestic violence offender registration information. It would impose new registration duties on certain repeat offenders, establish public disclosure requirements, authorize judicial exemptions, and add criminal penalties for noncompliance. The bill would also incorporate the Family Law Article’s definition of domestic violence and expand the legal framework governing domestic violence-related offenses and offender monitoring in Maryland.
The provided materials do not include committee testimony, floor debate, or votes, so there is no direct evidence of support or opposition from the legislative record supplied here. On its face, the bill reflects a public-safety-oriented approach aimed at tracking repeat domestic violence offenders and making that information available to the public. That suggests the bill is intended to appeal to advocates for victim protection and law enforcement transparency, while also including a court-based exemption process that may have been designed to address fairness concerns.
The main points of potential contention are the creation of a public registry for domestic violence offenders, the threshold of three convictions before registration is required, and the breadth of public access to personal information such as residential address and photograph. Civil liberties, privacy, due process, and the risk of overinclusion may be concerns for opponents, while supporters are likely to emphasize victim safety, deterrence, and community awareness. The exemption procedure and the 15-year registration period may also be debated as balancing mechanisms, but no specific positions are documented in the materials provided.