Maryland Criminal Law Code

The majority of the state criminal laws are located within the Criminal Law section of the Maryland Statues but there are still dozens of offenses that are located in other sections throughout the state code. The 14 titles of the criminal code contain hundreds of different laws, that if violated, could result in a jail sentence for the defendant. Title 1 provides various definitions that are used throughout the criminal code, though most of these definitions are obvious and require no further explanation. For example, Title 1 defines a minor as a person under the age of 18 and defines a county as any county plus Baltimore city. The rest of Title 1 deals with limiting the punishment for attempt and conspiracy to the maximum of the original offense, and it also provides the definition and penalty for accessory after the fact.

Title 2 of the Criminal Law code deals with homicide, which all crimes that caused or resulted in the death of another individual. This includes murder, manslaughter and homicide by motor vehicle. Title 3 is the section devoted to crimes against a person that do not result in a death and includes a host of common offenses such as felony first-degree assault and misdemeanor second-degree assault. It also includes reckless endangerment, sex crimes, robbery, kidnapping, extortion, stalking and harassment. Anyone charged with an offense from Title 3 will likely have a civilian witness at the complainant and often the only eyewitness. Police officer testimony is less impactful in cases that have civilian witnesses.

Title 4 of the Maryland Crimes Section deals with weapons crimes such as wear transport and carry of a firearm and dangerous weapons possession. Keep in mind that many firearm offenses are also located in the Public Safety Section, and many defendants are charged with public safety violations and criminal law weapons violations in the same case. The State will likely end up dismissing all by one of the charges, but some defendants may face a sentence in a public safety violation and a criminal law violation. Tile 5 of the Crimes Section deals with controlled dangerous substance violations or CDS for short. This section is home to almost all the drug violations in the Maryland code and has been modified numerous times in the last few years. Recreational cannabis is no longer a crime and possession with intent to distribute marijuana is now a misdemeanor. The laws regarding drug trafficking, which includes importation and possession of a large amount, have largely remained unchanged.

Titles 6 through 8 mainly focus on property crimes including theft and fraud. Title 6 deals with burglary, arson, malicious destruction of property and trespass. While arson is listed under the property crimes title, first-degree arson is actually considered a crime against a person for purposes of the Maryland Sentencing Guidelines. Crimes against a person typically have higher ranges of incarceration if a defendant is found guilty. Title 7 of the Maryland Criminal Code has all the general theft crimes, which are broken down in severity by the dollar amount of the crime. Any theft over $1,500 is considered a felony in Maryland. There is no such crime as attempted theft, because attempting to steal something is the same as getting away with the crime under the law. Conspiracy to commit theft is a common law misdemeanor crime that is not codified in Title 7. Check fraud, credit card fraud and identity theft are all codified in Title 8 of the Criminal Law section. Bribery, obstruction of justice, false statement and perjury are all located in Title 10, which deals with crimes against public administration or government.

Crimes against the public such as disorderly conduct and all animal cruelty crimes are listed in Title 10, while Title 11 deals with indecent exposure, prostitution and child pornography. The last three titles deal with gaming laws and general sentencing provisions for crimes that carry a mandatory prison sentence and is home to a relatively new law that adds a 10-year penalty for commission of a crime of violence against a pregnant person. We have listed the most common offenses in the Maryland Criminal Code below, but if you have any questions about a specific case contact criminal defense attorney Benjamin Herbst anytime at 410-207-2598.