NOTE: The Maryland Office of the Public Defender shared the following press release:
Bill Reduces Automatic Adult Prosecution of Children, Though More Reform Is Needed
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Today, Governor Moore signed the Youth Charging Reform Act into law, marking a major step forward in Maryland’s approach to youth justice. The legislation reduces the number of charges that can be used against children to automatically start their cases in adult court.
Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue issued the following statement:
“Today’s passage of SB323, the Youth Charging Reform Act (YRCA) is a meaningful and long-overdue step forward for Maryland’s children.
For more than a decade, Maryland has automatically routed children into adult criminal court based solely on the charge filed at arrest, without considering the child’s history, circumstances, or capacity for growth. Maryland does this for 33 separate offenses, which is more than any state in the country except Alabama. Yet 85 percent of those cases are ultimately dismissed or sent back to juvenile court anyway, often only after the children spend months in adult facilities without school, services, or meaningful family contact. Taxpayers spend roughly $17 million each year on a system that research shows makes children 34 percent more likely to reoffend. This approach has not made Maryland safer; it has made Maryland less safe.
Today’s bill addresses 7 of those 33 offenses. We are grateful to sponsors JPR Chair Sen. Will Smith, and Judiciary Chair Del. Sandy Bartlett for their leadership and resolve in moving this reform forward. We are equally grateful to MYJC, the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland under Del. N. Scott Phillips, and the advocates, families, and directly impacted young people who refused to allow this issue to disappear quietly into another legislative session. Their work kept the focus where it belonged: on evidence, accountability, and the futures of Maryland children.
This moment also belongs to two leaders who carried this fight long before supporting it was politically safe: Sen. Jill Carter and Del. Charlotte Crutchfield. Through stalled sessions, failed votes, and shifting political winds, they returned year after year with the same unwavering truth. The data did not support Maryland’s carceral system, the outcomes did not justify it, and Maryland children deserved better. Sen. Carter began fighting for this reform in the House of Delegates and carried that fight into the Senate until the day she left office. Del. Crutchfield never stopped pressing forward. Today’s victory rests on the foundation they built. Maryland owes them a debt this bill only begins to repay.
But 26 automatic pathways to adult court remain. Twenty-six offenses where a child can still be sent into the adult system before the law requires anyone to ask a single question about who that child is. The evidence is clear: automatic adult prosecution does not make communities safer. It makes children more likely to reoffend, families less stable, and communities fractured at public expense. Every one of those 26 pathways is a choice Maryland is making with full knowledge of what that choice costs. It is a system we must change.
Today is a victory. It is not a verdict.
The Office of the Public Defender (OPD) is proud of what this legislature did today, and more resolved than ever about what remains. The children in those 26 remaining categories deserve the same consideration this bill now extends to others. Maryland proved today that change is possible. OPD will continue fighting until every child is judged by more than the worst charge filed against them.”
About the Maryland Office of the Public Defender
The Maryland Office of the Public Defender provides legal representation to individuals who cannot afford an attorney in criminal and juvenile proceedings across all 24 of Maryland’s jurisdictions. With offices in every county and Baltimore City, OPD represents tens of thousands of Marylanders each year in district courts, circuit courts, and appellate proceedings. OPD works tirelessly to ensure that the right to counsel is a reality, not just a promise.
www.opd.state.md.us
Media Contact: Brianna Nave, brianna.nave@maryland.gov