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Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed a juvenile justice reform bill Thursday that makes younger juveniles subject to state oversight in criminal cases, a move supporters said will combine accountability and rehabilitation to the benefit of children.
鈥淚t really comes down to facing facts: Children in the system do not have clear pathways to rehabilitation and there is no meaningful oversight of this process,鈥 House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County), a sponsor of the bill, said at Thursday鈥檚 bill signing session.
鈥淐hildren carrying illegal guns, harming animals or attempting rape need a juvenile system that acts swiftly, shares information, makes better decisions and is accountable,鈥 Jones said. 鈥淟et me be clear: this issue does not end with聽.鈥
But criminal justice reform advocates say the bill goes too far and that legislation approved two years ago 鈥 specifically Juvenile Justice Reform and Child Interrogation Protection Act bills 鈥 need more time to have an impact. One major complaint is that HB 814 gives the Department of Juvenile Services jurisdiction over children as young as 10, a change they say is based on 鈥.鈥
鈥淚n signing HB 814, Gov. Moore will be sending many more children 鈥 disproportionately children of color 鈥 into the juvenile legal system, compromising their futures without achieving meaningful benefit to public safety,鈥 said a statement from the Maryland Youth Justice Coalition.
鈥淥ur governor and state leaders know that kids need support and services, not punishment and incarceration, and that this bill will prolong the shameful record of racial disparities within Maryland鈥檚 juvenile justice system. We have a right to expect better than this,鈥 said the coalition of state and local organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland.
The bill was one of nearly 350 signed Thursday 鈥 268 signed in an hourslong public ceremony and 77 signed in private 鈥 ranging from health care for migrants to the state鈥檚 $63 billion budget for fiscal 2025. But most of the attention was focuses on a series of public safety bills, including HB 814.

That bill would send youths under DJS jurisdiction to juvenile court if charged for certain crimes such as a third-degree sex offense, aggravated animal cruelty and some firearm offenses. State鈥檚 attorneys could review complaints and case files of children under DJS supervision, and minors could be sent to a diversionary program managed by a prosecutor鈥檚 office, or a community-based organization.
Moore defended the bill at Thursday鈥檚 signing ceremony.
鈥淚 made a promise when we first came on board that I would never spend my time simply giving thoughts and prayers and attending funerals without passing a single piece of legislation, or without doing anything to be able to make the issue any better for the families we are here to serve,鈥 Moore said. 鈥淚n this administration, we decided to move differently.鈥
Lawmakers began discussing ways to revamp the state鈥檚聽聽after a mass shooting last summer at the Brooklyn Homes community in Baltimore that killed two people and injured more than two dozen. That discussion took off in November, after Baltimore police arrested a 12- and a 14-year-old in connection with an assault, robbery and attempt to steal a woman鈥檚 car. After their arrest, police returned the youths to their homes.
Part of the measure requires a Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform and Emerging and Best Practices to review the department鈥檚 education and diversionary programs, research evidence-based programs and review deaths that involved children under DJS supervision. The commission begins next month, while the rest of the law takes effect Nov. 1.
Moore also signed聽, sponsored by Sen. Cory McCray (D-Baltimore City), that requires DJS to document whether juveniles were involved in fatal and nonfatal shootings, their ages and county or residence. It also requires a report, by Dec. 1 to the best practices commission and the General Assembly, describing the process and actions taken by the agency after each incident.
鈥業t鈥檚 about bad actors鈥
Other public safety legislation signed into law Thursday include聽/聽to create a Center for Firearm Violence Prevention and Intervention, which was requested by the Moore administration.
罢丑别听, in the state Department of Health, will focus on a data-driven public health approach to preventing gun violence and call for collaboration between state and local government agencies, hospitals and community-based violence intervention programs.
The bills鈥櫬犅爏aid it will cost about $2.1 million next year to hire an executive director, an epidemiologist and a program manager. Another $10 million would be allocated in fiscal 2026, including funds for contractual services, grants to community organizations and 鈥渁cademic partners鈥 and ongoing personnel and operating costs.
The center is modeled after the White House鈥檚 Office of Gun Violence Prevention established in September. Two members of that office, Gregory Jackson Jr. and Rob Wilcox, attended Thursday鈥檚 bill signing. The bill takes effect Oct. 1.
Another public safety measure signed Thursday is聽聽鈥 the Gun Industry Accountability Act 鈥 sponsored by Del. N. Scott Phillips (D-Baltimore County). It would let the attorney general or local state鈥檚 attorneys sue firearms manufacturers and gun dealers.
Phillips said the legislation, which takes effect June 1, doesn鈥檛 target responsible and law-abiding gun owners.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e trying to do is just address this issue that creates violence in our community where people get a hold of guns that they shouldn鈥檛 have,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hose people that are doing the right thing in this industry [would] continue to sell guns, and the people that have those rights would be able to get those guns. It鈥檚 not about Second Amendment rights. It鈥檚 about bad actors.鈥
But Mark Pennak, president of the gun rights group聽, told 91欧美激情 91欧美激情 on Thursday that it鈥檚 not a matter of if his group will file a suit, but when.
鈥淢y advice to the attorney general would be to tread carefully and pick your cases,鈥 he said. 鈥淸State lawmakers] are blaming the wrong people for harm to the public. They ought to be focusing on the criminals who misuse them [guns] who illegally possess them.鈥
Other legislation
Before the ceremony, Moore gave two ceremonial pens to Frank LaPere, whose daughter,聽, 26, was found dead on the rooftop of her apartment building in Baltimore last year. Moore and LaPere embraced among a standing-room-only crowd inside the governor鈥檚 reception room.
LaPere had pushed for passage of聽聽sponsored by Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), that eliminates good behavior credit that could allow early release of violent sex offenders. The man charged in Pava LaPere鈥檚 murder, Jason Dean Billingsley, 32, was a convicted sex offender released from prison early due to good behavior credits.
Pava LaPere, the CEO of a Baltimore tech company, was remembered in two bills that give $50,000 grants to student entrepreneurs.聽听补苍诲听聽which were named after LaPere, would make qualified startup companies established by college students in the Baltimore area eligible for state grants.
That program, which would run from July 1 through June 30, 2027, was part of Moore鈥檚 legislative agenda.
His agenda also included聽/聽鈥 Growing Apprenticeships the Public Safety Workforce, also known as the GAPS Act 鈥 signed Thursday. The new law would reform the state鈥檚 existing apprenticeship programs to encourage more people to serve in law enforcement. Under the one-year program, a police department or correctional services office could get up to a $5,000 grant for candidates who enroll in the agency鈥檚 apprenticeship program.
The administration also backed聽聽(Victims Compensation Act), which had the support of Prince George鈥檚 County State鈥檚 Attorney Aisha Braveboy (D) and Baltimore City State鈥檚 Attorney Ivan Bates (D).

The legislation requires that crime victims, their family members and loved ones receive faster access to money for immediate needs such as funeral and emergency relocation expenses. A聽, which would be expanded from five to seven people, would review claims for those expenses.
Currently, the board or employees with the Governor鈥檚 Office of Crime Prevention, Youth and Victim Services must complete a review of claims and any other documentation within 90 days. The bill shortens that timeline to 30 days.
The bill also increases funding for funeral expenses from $7,500 to $10,000; for mental health counseling from $10,000 to $45,000; and repair or replacement of property damaged in a crime or during a police investigation of a crime from $250 to $2,000. The bill takes effect July 1.
鈥淲e think this is a step in the right direction,鈥 Braveboy said outside the State House Thursday.
The governor also signed聽, sponsored by Del. Bonnie Cullison (D-Montgomery), and聽sponsored by Sens. Antonio Hayes (D-Baltimore City) and Clarence K. Lam (D-Howard and Anne Arundel), directing the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange to seek a waiver from the federal government to let Maryland residents purchase an individual private health care plan, regardless of immigration status. 罢丑别听聽takes effect Oct. 1.
鈥淢aryland is making substantial progress this year to help us reach the goal of ensuring that no Marylander has to go without health coverage,鈥 Vincent DeMarco, president of the Maryland Citizens鈥 Health Initiative, said in a statement Thursday. 鈥淭his will have no cost to the state and as we get more and more of our residents covered, we all benefit as we reduce uncompensated hospital care for which we all pay with higher premiums.鈥