The segments below provide a brief overview of MACo’s work on public safety and corrections policies in the 2026 General Assembly session. 
Counties are critical partners in Maryland’s public safety and criminal justice systems, overseeing law enforcement, operating local detention centers, and coordinating emergency response services that protect residents every day. Through its public safety and corrections advocacy, MACo works to ensure that state policies support effective operations, adequate resources, and local flexibility in meeting evolving public safety needs.
In Maryland’s 448th legislative session, public safety policy reflected ongoing discussions around criminal justice reform, workforce challenges, and the costs of operating local detention and law enforcement systems. The General Assembly considered proposals addressing policing practices, detention standards, and sentencing policies.
Within this environment, MACo engaged to promote balanced approaches that enhance public safety while recognizing the practical on-the-ground realities faced by local agencies. MACo’s legislative committee helped guide association policies to support safe communities, protect due process, and ensure counties can continue to deliver these critical services effectively.
Follow these links for more coverage on our Conduit Street blog and Legislative Database.
MACo supported HB 852/SB 285 – Higher Education – Scholarships for Correctional Officers. This bill expands eligibility for the Maryland Police Officers and Probation Agents Scholarship Program to include correctional officers. Broadening eligibility encourages professional development, strengthens recruitment and retention, and recognizes the critical role correctional staff play in supporting rehabilitation, reentry, and the safe operation of local detention facilities. This bill PASSED the Maryland General Assembly.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 1162 – Correctional Services – Medication-Assisted Treatment Funding. This bill would have clarified State procedures and viable funding sources for medication-assisted treatment in local detention centers. This proposal would have helped the State reach compliance with at least one of several missed financial obligations within local detention centers. This bill DID NOT pass in the 2026 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo opposed HB 1154/SB 908 – Correctional Services – Restrictive Housing. This bill would have changed the definition of restrictive housing to be placement in an individual cell for “20 hours or more in a 24-hour period of time,” shifting the definition from the current 22 to 20 hours. Without corresponding resources, this change would have imposed significant operational, staffing, space, and fiscal demands on smaller county facilities that lack the scale and infrastructure of large state-run institutions. This bill DID NOT pass in the 2026 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo opposed HB 492/SB 544 – Courtroom Security – Minimum Adequate Security Standard. This bill could require counties across the state to fund substantially more positions for security officers in the Circuit Courts, imposing new security staffing requirements on county governments without providing cost estimates, funding support, or sufficient implementation time. This bill PASSED the Maryland General Assembly.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo opposed HB 711/SB 504 – Data Privacy – Consumer Data, Public Records, and Message Switching System (Data Privacy Act). In pursuit of a policy on sharing data with outside agencies who may use it for immigration enforcement, the bill creates a largely unworkable matrix of custodian mandates, exposing good faith government employees to personal liability under unreasonable expectations. This bill will fundamentally alter how county governments process public records requests in cases where information could potentially be used for immigration enforcement. This bill PASSED the Maryland General Assembly.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 389/SB 296 – Juveniles – Detention and Confinement – Limitations on Juvenile Contact With Incarcerated Adults. This bill would have sensibly limited the long-term holding of a juvenile in an adult detention center, including all local detention centers. While this bill DID NOT pass in the original form, the provisions were amended onto SB 323 which did pass.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo opposed HB 32 – Local Law Enforcement Vehicles – Requirements – Automated External Defibrillators. This bill would have required each local law enforcement vehicle to carry an automated external defibrillator (AED) and maintain the functionality and certification of each AED. Counties cautioned that this would strain local budgets while duplicating existing emergency response efforts. This bill DID NOT pass in the 2026 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 1408 – Motor Vehicles – Automated Traffic Enforcement Systems – Impoundment. This bill would have authorized a law enforcement agency to impound a vehicle for which three or more unpaid citations from an automated traffic enforcement system have been issued, which would have allowed law enforcement agencies to impound vehicles that accumulate multiple unpaid automated enforcement citations, creating an additional accountability mechanism for habitual violators. This bill DID NOT pass in the 2026 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo opposed HB 444/SB 245 – Public Safety – Immigration Enforcement Agreements – Prohibition. This bill prohibits counties from maintaining or creating immigration enforcement agreements, terminating nine existing agreements, and restricting local law enforcement and corrections staff from setting binding standards with federal agencies operating in their jurisdictions. This bill PASSED the Maryland General Assembly.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo submitted a letter of information on HB 1317 – State Government – Data-Sharing Agreements and Personal Identifying Information – Prohibition and Reporting (Maryland Data Privacy and Federal Shield Act). This bill sought a policy on sharing data with outside individuals who may use it for various types of federal enforcement or tracking. MACo’s letter cautioned that the bill’s procedural requirements could create uncertainty, administrative burdens, and potential personal liability for local record custodians. This bill DID NOT pass in the 2026 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo opposed HB 104/SB 49 – Unhoused Individuals – Rights and Affirmative Defense. While this bill aimed to protect unhoused individuals, it would have worsened housing insecurity, restricted local safety interventions, and posed serious risks to public health and community well-being. This bill DID NOT pass in the 2026 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
