Bill
SB 311
Expands threat protections to include immediate family members of state/local officials, criminalizing threats against parents, spouses, and children as a misdemeanor.
Status and key dates
- Introduced (Senate/Judicial Proceedings): January 13, 2025.
- Public hearing: January 29, 2025 (11:00 a.m.).
- Enacted: May 14, 2025 (delivered to Governor and chaptered).
- Effective date specified in the bill: October 1, 2025.
Purpose and intent
- The bill expands criminal protections against threats directed at public officials by explicitly making immediate family members of certain officials (parents, spouses, children) covered victims. The stated goal is to deter intimidation and protect the families of State and local public servants.
What the bill does — main provisions
- Amends Maryland Criminal Law § 3‑708 to add “immediate family member” to the list of protected persons. The bill defines “immediate family member” to include a parent, spouse, and child.
- Extends existing prohibitions (which already applied to State officials, local officials, deputy State’s Attorneys, assistant State’s Attorneys, and assistant public defenders) to also cover their immediate family members.
- Maintains the existing statutory definition of “threat,” which includes oral and written threats (signed or unsigned).
- Retains the existing criminal penalty for violations: misdemeanor punishable by up to 3 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine up to $2,500.
Who is affected
- Protected persons: State officials (as defined elsewhere in law: constitutional officers, legislators, judges, State’s Attorneys, etc.), local elected officials, deputy State’s Attorneys, assistant State’s Attorneys, assistant public defenders — and now their immediate family members (parent, spouse, child).
- Potential defendants: any person who knowingly and willfully makes, sends, delivers, or prepares a prohibited threat against those covered individuals.
- Law enforcement and prosecutors: enforcement responsibilities remain with State/local criminal justice authorities; courts will apply existing misdemeanor procedures and penalties.
Scope and limitations
- The bill is an amendment to existing threat statutes; it does not change the statutory definition of “threat” or the maximum penalty.
- It expands the class of protected victims but does not create new categories of prohibited conduct beyond those already proscribed (threatening to kill, kidnap, or cause physical injury; transmitting such threats).
Practical impact
- Criminalizes targeted threats directed at close family members of certain public officials, increasing legal protections for those families and giving prosecutors a clearer statutory basis to charge such conduct. The measure is intended to deter intimidation tactics aimed at officials by threatening their loved ones.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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