Maryland’s counties are once again facing a one-sided and unexpected cost shift in the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act (BRFA) of 2025. 
This time, the proposed shift would force Maryland counties to cover 50% of the costs for wrongful conviction compensation — despite having no role in these cases’ prosecution, conviction, or exoneration.
The move would impose unpredictable financial burdens on county governments, with no oversight or ability to plan for these expenses. Counties support justice and fairness, but this cost shift is a flawed policy, plain and simple.
Read Kevin Kinnally’s full breakdown of the issue below:
2/ Under current law, the MD Board of Public Works (BPW) compensates wrongfully convicted & incarcerated individuals.
These cases involve only non-county actors — including independently elected State’s Attorneys, State courts, & State-driven exonerations.#MDpolitics #MDGA25
— Kevin Kinnally (@KKinnally_MACo) March 23, 2025
4/ The BRFA would force #counties to pay millions for decisions they don’t make and can’t control. There is no local authority or oversight — just shipping more costs to counties with zero justification.#MDpolitics #MDGA25
— Kevin Kinnally (@KKinnally_MACo) March 23, 2025
6/ How could a county even budget for that?
County budgets follow a fixed cycle with limited flexibility. If the State settles a case in April, how — & when — should a county pay?
There’s no timeline, no mechanism, no way to plan. It’s just a sudden bill.#MDpolitics #MDGA25 pic.twitter.com/AvHgk56Fv7
— Kevin Kinnally (@KKinnally_MACo) March 23, 2025
8/ There’s no local nexus and no local oversight — just open-ended fiscal exposure dumped onto #counties. Budgeting for this is impossible and indefensible.#MDpolitics #MDGA25
— Kevin Kinnally (@KKinnally_MACo) March 23, 2025
10/ The General Assembly rejected this same proposal when the Department of Legislative Services proposed it in 2021. That decision was right then, and it’s right now.#MDpolitics #MDGA25
— Kevin Kinnally (@KKinnally_MACo) March 23, 2025
12/ @MDCounties urges lawmakers to reject this cost shift in the BRFA.
It’s unfair, unworkable, and indefensible.#MDpolitics #MDGA25
— Kevin Kinnally (@KKinnally_MACo) March 23, 2025
