HB 409

Juvenile Court - Jurisdiction (Youth Charging Reform Act)

Sponsor: J. Sandy Bartlett (District 32)Committee: JudiciarySubject: Juvenile LawStatus: Hearing 2/12 at 1:00 p.m. (as of Sep 4, 2026)

What this bill does

Official synopsis

Altering the jurisdiction of the juvenile court by repealing provisions specifying that the juvenile court does not have jurisdiction over a child alleged to have committed any crime punishable by life imprisonment.

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Analysis reads the bill text, the fiscal note, and the witness list. It is generated by Claude and reviewed by nobody, so check the source documents before you rely on it.

Testimony (109)

MGA witness list

FAV 90FavorableFWA 3Favorable with amendmentsUNF 14UnfavorableINFO 2Information only

Position	Witness	Organization	Testimony
FAV	Patinella, Franklobbyist	ACLU of Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Wilkerson, Alicelobbyist	Advance Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	RUBIN, ANNA	Anna Rubin	Written (PDF)
FAV	Snyder, Abigaillobbyist	Baltimore Jewish Council	Written (PDF)
FAV	Tilghman, Marlon	Bridge Maryland, Inc	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Parsons, Michael	Businessman D37	Oral
FAV	Moore, Tonaeyalobbyist	CASH Campaign of Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Chavarria, Erika	Columbia Community Care	Oral
FAV	Hession, Melody	Delaware-Maryland Synod of the ELCA	Written (PDF)
FAV	Dews, Christopherlobbyist	Dews & Associates	Position only
FAV	Schiraldi, Vincent	Former Prosecutors and Secretaries - Maryland Departments of Public Safety and Correctional Services and Juvenile Services	Written (PDF)
FAV	Dixon, Monique	Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law, University of Maryland Carey School of Law	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Lennig, Dorothy	Governor's Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Dold, Jameslobbyist	Human Rights for Kids	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	miller, deborahlobbyist	JCRC of Greater Washington	Written (PDF)
FAV	Koplik, Chuck	Jewish Community Relations Council of Howard County	Written (PDF)
FAV	Goemann, Melissa	Jews United for Justice	Written (PDF)
FAV	Lampel, Anita	Jews United for Justice	Written (PDF)
FAV	DuFour, Christine	Jezic and Moyse, LLC and MCDAA	Oral
FAV	Caplan, Karen	Karen D. Caplan	Written (PDF)
FAV	Boddie-Willis, Cynthia	League of Women Voters of Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Blacklow, Roger	Legislative Advocacy Committee of Leisure World Democratic Club	Position only
FAV	Agarin, Ufuoma	Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Lieberman, Jim	Leisure World	Position only
FAV	Dartigue, Natasha	MARYLAND OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER	Oral
FAV	Kovacs, Lisa	Maryland Association of Local Management Boards	Written (PDF)
FAV	O'Day, Garrettlobbyist	Maryland Catholic Conference	Written (PDF)
FAV	Fox Tolentino, Betsy	Maryland Department of Juvenile Services	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Plante, Cecilia	Maryland Legislative Coalition	Position only
FAV	Seagears, Erin	Maryland Office of the Public Defender	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	McCarthy, John	Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office	Oral
FAV	Proctor, Karessa	NASW Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Frost, Lesley	Nationa Council of Jewish Women, MD Action Team	Written (PDF)
FAV	Pallia, Nicole	OPD	Oral
FAV	Duckett-Randolph, Neka	Out 4 Justice	Written (PDF)
FAV	Speaks, Terry	Out for Justice	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Lofgren, Ingrid	Public Justice Center	Written (PDF)
FAV	Melvin, Robertlobbyist	R Street Institute	Written (PDF)
FAV	Watts, Lydia	Rebuild, Overcome, and Rise (ROAR) Center at UMB	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Elaine, Arndt	SELF	Position only
FAV	Blaha, Katherine	SURJ	Written (PDF)
FAV	Wilkins, Katherine	SURJ	Written (PDF)
FAV	Eckel, Rianna	SURJ Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Powell, Holly	Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)	Written (PDF)
FAV	Hoffman, Theresa M.	Showing Up for Racial Justice Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Keipper, Lindsay	Showing Up for Racial Justice- Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	SWASC, UM	Social Work Advocates for Social Change	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Quinn, Kelly	The Choice Program at UMBC	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Naugle, Olivia	The Sentencing Project	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Finigan-Carr, Nadine	UMB: Center for Violence Prevention	Written (PDF)
FAV	Warnken, Heather	University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Criminal Justice Reform	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Kaplowitz, Richard KAP	Year	Written (PDF)
FAV	Solomon, Julie	self	Written (PDF)
FAV	Ashraf, Iqra	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Bergofsky, Linda	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Blank, Emily	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Brown, Miner	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Caroom, Philip	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Chaudry, Zainab	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Cichowski, Carol	Individual	Written (PDF)

Showing 60 of 109

Organizations on record

ACLU of MarylandFAV 1

Advance MarylandFAV 1

Anna RubinFAV 1

Baltimore County State's Attorney's OfficeUNF 1

Baltimore Jewish CouncilFAV 1

Bridge Maryland, IncFAV 1

Businessman D37FAV 1

Calvert County State's Attorney's OfficeUNF 1

CASH Campaign of MarylandFAV 1

Columbia Community CareFAV 1

Delaware-Maryland Synod of the ELCAFAV 1

Dews & AssociatesFAV 1

Former Prosecutors and Secretaries - Maryland Departments of Public Safety and Correctional Services and Juvenile ServicesFAV 1

Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law, University of Maryland Carey School of LawFAV 1

Governor's Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim ServicesFAV 1

Harford County GovernmentUNF 1

Human Rights for KidsFAV 1

JCRC of Greater WashingtonFAV 1

Jewish Community Relations Council of Howard CountyFAV 1

Jews United for JusticeFAV 2

Jezic and Moyse, LLC and MCDAAFAV 1

Karen D. CaplanFAV 1

Kent County State's Attorney's OfficeUNF 1

Leaders of a Beautiful StruggleFWA 1

League of Women Voters of MarylandFAV 1

Legislative Advocacy Committee of Leisure World Democratic ClubFAV 1

Legislative Black Caucus of MarylandFAV 1

Leisure WorldFAV 1

Maryland Association of Local Management BoardsFAV 1

Maryland Catholic ConferenceFAV 1

Maryland Crime Victims' Resource CenterUNF 1

Maryland Department of Juvenile ServicesFAV 1

Maryland JudiciaryINFO 1

Maryland Legislative CoalitionFAV 1

Maryland Office of the Public DefenderFAV 1

MARYLAND OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDERFAV 1

Maryland State's Attorney's AssociationUNF 2

Maryland State's Attorneys' AssociationUNF 1

MD Police Chiefs Assoc. and MD Sheriffs Assoc.UNF 1

Montgomery County State's Attorney's OfficeFAV 1

NASW MarylandFAV 1

Nationa Council of Jewish Women, MD Action TeamFAV 1

Office of the Attorney GeneralFWA 1

Office of the State's Attorney for Wicomico CountyUNF 1

OPDFAV 1

Out 4 JusticeFAV 1

Out for JusticeFAV 1

Public Justice CenterFAV 1

R Street InstituteFAV 1

Rebuild, Overcome, and Rise (ROAR) Center at UMBFAV 1

Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the CourtsFWA 1

selfFAV 1

SELFFAV 1

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)FAV 1

Showing Up for Racial Justice BaltimoreFAV 1

Showing Up for Racial Justice- BaltimoreFAV 1

Social Work Advocates for Social ChangeFAV 1

State's Attorney for Baltimore CityUNF 1

SURJFAV 2

SURJ BaltimoreFAV 1

The Choice Program at UMBCFAV 1

The Sentencing ProjectFAV 1

Town of Rising SunUNF 1

UMB: Center for Violence PreventionFAV 1

University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Criminal Justice ReformFAV 1

Worcester County Sheriffs OfficeUNF 1

YearFAV 1

Registered lobbyists who testified

FAVPatinella, FrankACLU of MarylandRegistered for: ACLU of Maryland; American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland

FAVWilkerson, AliceAdvance MarylandRegistered for: Advance Maryland

FAVSnyder, AbigailBaltimore Jewish CouncilRegistered for: Baltimore Jewish Council

FAVMoore, TonaeyaCASH Campaign of MarylandRegistered for: CASH Campaign of Maryland

FAVDews, ChristopherDews & AssociatesRegistered for: Advance Maryland Education Fund; Beyond Impact; Center for Urban Families; Dews & Associates; Out for Justice, Inc.; REFORM Alliance…

FAVDold, JamesHuman Rights for KidsRegistered for: Human Rights for Kids

FAVmiller, deborahJCRC of Greater WashingtonRegistered for: Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington

FAVO'Day, GarrettMaryland Catholic ConferenceRegistered for: Maryland Catholic Conference

FAVMelvin, RobertR Street InstituteRegistered for: R Street Institute

UNFJackson, SamiraMD Police Chiefs Assoc. and MD Sheriffs Assoc.Registered for: Critical Response Group; Dell Technologies Inc.; Empower; Forward Financing; HDR Engineering, Inc.; Maryland Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs…