Hertford County Economic Development.

2025-2026 Session Introduced by Bobby Hanig and 1 co-sponsor

The bill reclassifies unlawful interception, disclosure, or use of communications from a felony to a misdemeanor, while keeping penalties unchanged.

Withdrawn From Com

SB 38 — Intercepted Communications — Penalty (Summary)

Status: Hearing scheduled 1/16 at 1:00 p.m.
Primary subject: Reclassifies the criminal offense for intercepting/disclosing communications from a felony to a misdemeanor.
Jurisdiction / statute affected: Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, §10‑402 (intercepted communications).
Effective date (if enacted): October 1, 2025 (per bill text).

Purpose / intent

The bill’s stated purpose is to change the criminal classification of unlawful interception, disclosure, or use of wire, oral, or electronic communications (currently a felony under §10‑402(a)) to a misdemeanor. The bill leaves the statutory maximum imprisonment term and monetary fine unchanged.

Key provisions

Replaces the word “felony” with “misdemeanor” in §10‑402(a).

Retains the existing substantive prohibitions: it remains unlawful to willfully

intercept (or attempt to intercept) a wire, oral, or electronic communication;
disclose (or attempt to disclose) the contents of such a communication knowing it was illegally intercepted; or
use (or attempt to use) the contents of such a communication knowing it was illegally intercepted.

The bill does not alter the statutory maximum penalties in the text: imprisonment up to 5 years and/or a fine up to $10,000 remain specified for violations.

Who would be affected

Individuals prosecuted under §10‑402 for unlawfully intercepting, disclosing, or using intercepted communications.

State and local prosecutors and public defenders (charging and plea-bargaining practices may change).

Courts (classification affects recordkeeping, sentencing procedures, and possibly venue).

Victims and privacy advocates (substantive prohibitions are unchanged).

Agencies and stakeholders that track felony convictions (employment, licensing, collateral consequences, and sentencing impacts differ between felony and misdemeanor records).

Fiscal and workload implications

Department of Legislative Services fiscal note: the bill is not expected to materially affect State or local finances or operations.

Court data cited by the fiscal note: recent fiscal years show relatively low numbers of charges and few convictions under §10‑402 (e.g., FY2024: 34 District Court charges / 0 convictions; 8 circuit court charges / 0 convictions).

Procedural / timeline notes

Hearing on the bill is scheduled for 1/16 at 1:00 p.m. (per bill notice).

If enacted as written, the bill specifies an effective date of October 1, 2025.

Because the bill changes classification but retains existing maximum penalties, implementation questions could arise about sentencing ranges, plea options, collateral‑consequence rules, and record‑sealing eligibility — matters typically addressed in practice by courts, sentencing guidelines, and administrative policies.

If you’d like, I can:
- Extract and format the bill’s full proposed statutory text change for quick reference; or
- Draft a short memo comparing felony vs. misdemeanor consequences in Maryland (sentencing ranges, record-expungement/relief implications, civil collateral effects).