Summary — HB 293: Criminal Procedure — Child Victims — Testimony in Child Abuse Cases (Chapter 150)
Status and effective date
- Enacted as Chapter 150; approved by the Governor April 22, 2025.
- Effective date: October 1, 2025.
- Statutory location amended: Article — Criminal Procedure, §11‑303 (Annotated Code of Maryland).
Purpose and policy intent
- To refine and clarify when a court may order a child abuse victim’s testimony to be taken outside the courtroom and shown in the courtroom by closed‑circuit television (CCTV), enhancing protection of child victims from emotional distress while preserving defendants’ rights to counsel and to observe testimony.
Key substantive changes and provisions
- Applicability: applies to child abuse cases under Family Law Title 5, Subtitle 7 and Criminal Law §§3‑601, 3‑602. Does not apply if the defendant or child respondent is without counsel.
- Standard for CCTV testimony: retains the requirement that the court find that testifying in the defendant’s presence will cause the child to suffer “serious emotional distress,” but removes the prior statutory requirement that the court also find the child would be “unable to reasonably communicate.” (i.e., the “unable to reasonably communicate” threshold is repealed.)
- Location and victim protections: if testimony is taken by CCTV, it must be given within the courthouse in a setting the court finds will reasonably mitigate the likelihood the child will suffer emotional distress.
- Presence and questioning limits: only specified persons may remain in the room with the child (prosecutor, defense counsel for each defendant/respondent, the child’s counsel, CCTV operators, and, subject to Maryland Rules, persons contributing to the child’s well‑being). In criminal/delinquency proceedings, only one prosecuting attorney, one attorney for each defendant/respondent, and the court may question the child.
- Determination process: the court may observe and question the child (inside or outside the courtroom) and hear testimony from parents/caregivers or therapeutic providers when deciding whether to permit CCTV testimony. If the court observes or questions the child, the defendant or child respondent may not be present (but attorneys may be).
- Communication between defendant and counsel: requires that the defendant or child respondent have a means of privately communicating orally and in real time with the attorney who is physically in the room where the child is testifying.
- No two‑way CCTV: the court may not order use of two‑way CCTV or any procedure that would allow the child victim to see or hear the defendant or child respondent.
Who is affected
- Child victims in covered abuse proceedings, defendants/child respondents and their attorneys, prosecutors, judges, court staff, and courthouse facilities (rooms and audio/video systems). Technology/space adjustments may be needed to provide in‑courthouse private testimony settings and secure private audio links between in‑court counsel and defendants in the courtroom.
Fiscal impact
- The Department of Legislative Services and Judiciary expect no material fiscal effect statewide or locally; implementation is expected to be achievable using existing courthouse technology/practices (e.g., secure video/teleconference tools) rather than specialized “closed‑loop” CCTV systems.
Procedural/history highlights
- Bill passed with amendments (committee reports and floor actions recorded); enrolled and signed by the Governor April 22, 2025; becomes effective October 1, 2025.
