Watered-down juvenile auto-charging reform bill moves to full Senate vote

Katharine Wilson, The Baltimore Sun on Mar 4, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

A scaled-back version of the Maryland bill to reduce auto-charging children in adult court and to house minors charged as adults in non-adult facilities is set to pass out of the State Senate on Friday. It marks the first time in 14 years that a version of the auto-charging reform made it out of committee in either chamber.

The Youth Charging Reform Act. would reduce the number of offenses that automatically charge minors as adults and would prohibit long-term pre- and post-trial detention of children in adult facilities starting in October 2029 — a provision added through committee amendments last week. If it passes the Senate floor, the legislation would move to the Maryland House of Delegates, where a counterpart version has already been heard in the House Judiciary Committee, but remains unmoved.

Sen. Will Smith, a Montgomery County Democrat and the bill’s lead sponsor, said that even with the changes to the legislation, the impact will be felt by the minors charged with these crimes. “I think it’s going to be tremendously effective in creating the type of reform that we’re looking for, for efficiencies, for better public safety outcomes and for better outcomes for the youth,” Smith said.

An amendment from Republican Sen. William Folden to keep first-degree assault in adult court failed on the Senate floor Wednesday. Folden is the only committee member to vote against the measure. The bill’s supporter argued that prosecutors could still seek adult charges when warranted and noted that most minors charged with first-degree assault are ultimately transferred to juvenile court. This follows recent trims to the measure in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

Instead of removing auto-charging for 14- and 15-year-olds, the committee decided to maintain it for those accused of first-degree murder and rape, or attempt of either. They also narrowed the list of charges to be removed from the automatic charging list for 16- and 17-year-olds from 11 to six.

Juvenile justice advocates, like Alice Wilkerson, the executive director of Advance Maryland, had hoped that the chamber would consider ending auto-charging for all 14- and 15-year-olds. Advocates are also conflicted by the number of charges that remain on the list but remain optimistic about the bill’s impact. Despite the changes, state’s attorneys are also still firmly against the proposal.

The Maryland State’s Attorneys Association requested that the State Senate push back the effective date of the automatic charging change by three years to allow more time for the state to give more resources to the “overburdened system,” and research best practices. “This legislation looks to overwhelm an already overburdened juvenile system, putting the interests of the accused juvenile offender ahead of the rights of the victims of their crimes,” Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, the president of the Maryland State’s Attorneys Association, said in the Monday news release.

James Dold, the founder of the non-profit juvenile justice advocacy group Human Rights for Kids, said the amendment that added a policy to remove children charged as adults from adult facilities will help bring the state into compliance with federal law and keep them out of conditions, which he calls “horrific”.

“We really liked Senator Smith’s bill as written,” Dold said. “We thought that it was a pretty measured bill, and we would have preferred for the changes that it sought to make to go forward as-is. We also recognize that during the legislative process, there’s a lot that goes into it, and you know, leadership has to balance the competing concerns and interests of its various members.”

Sen. Chris West, a Republican who voted for the bill in committee, told The Sun that he supports the bills even with committee updates because most children first charged as adults in the state are later brought to the juvenile system. Still, he added, Maryland lawmakers “could make it a little better, which is why I voted for the two amendments.”

________