Bill
SB 343
Reconstitures a Task Force to set transparency standards for State’s Attorneys and creates a grant fund to aid uniform data-enabled case management systems.
Title: State’s Attorneys — Reconstitution of Task Force to Study Transparency Standards for State’s Attorneys
Status / Key dates
- Introduced (session): 2025 (bill sponsor: Senator Sydnor in Maryland versions). (User materials also note an introduction date of Feb 12, 2025 and a hearing scheduled for 3/25 at 1:00 p.m.)
- Effective date in text: July 1, 2025.
- Task force/report timeline: first annual report due December 31, 2025, and annually thereafter.
- Termination of task force authority: June 30, 2028 (per fiscal note).
Purpose and intent
- Reestablish the Task Force to Study Transparency Standards for State’s Attorneys (originally created by Chapter 141 of 2022) to continue evaluating whether minimum statewide transparency standards for State’s Attorneys should be adopted.
- Create a State’s Attorney Case Management System (CMS) Grant Fund to provide grants enabling State’s Attorneys’ offices to establish or improve electronic case management systems capable of collecting uniform case data (arrests, charging decisions, dispositions, etc.).
Major provisions
1. Task Force reconstitution
- Recreates the Task Force with specified membership: legislative appointees, representatives from the Maryland State’s Attorneys’ Association, Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy, Administrative Office of the Courts, Vera Institute (or designee), Attorney Grievance Commission, victims’ advocacy, Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention & Policy (GOCPP), Attorney General, Public Defender, and a data/transparency expert.
- Department of Legislative Services (DLS) to staff the Task Force.
- Task Force duties include developing processes for prosecutors to collect and decide what data should be public vs. private and reviewing existing State’s Attorneys’ office policies on data transparency, charging, and sentencing.
- Required to submit findings and recommendations to the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and House Judiciary Committee by December 31 each year.
Data and equity focus
- The predecessor Task Force (Dec 2023 report) recommended uniform statewide data collection of specific data points disaggregated by race/ethnicity, gender, offense severity, and other defendant/victim characteristics to enable analysis of disparities and prosecutorial decision points.
- SB 343 directs the Task Force to identify sustainable funding sources to implement recommended reforms.
Fiscal and administrative impact
- DLS can staff the Task Force with existing resources; member expense reimbursements are expected to be minimal and absorbable.
- The bill authorizes the creation of a grant fund; fiscal impacts depend on appropriations. Prior related actions included a FY2025 $500,000 appropriation (Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy) for CMS grants in an earlier budget item.
Who is affected
- Primary: State’s Attorneys’ offices (required/encouraged to adopt or upgrade case management systems to collect uniform data).
- Secondary: GOCPP (administrator of the fund), DLS (staffing the Task Force), state and local governments (potential reporting and data responsibilities), and the public (through improved transparency and data availability).
- Research and equity stakeholders (advocates, academics, legislators) stand to benefit from standardized data to analyze prosecutorial decision-making and disparities.
Procedural notes
- Requires annual Task Force reports (Dec 31 each year) to specified legislative committees.
- The Task Force’s authority, as reestablished, is limited through June 30, 2028.
- Implementation of grants or system deployment will depend on subsequent appropriations and the application process established by the Executive Director.
For more detail
- The Task Force’s December 2023 report and related fiscal analyses contain recommended uniform data points and background on implementation needs; SB 343 builds on those prior findings.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
Sign in to ask a question.
