Maryland Parole Commission transparency bill
Summary
Maryland Senate Bill 822 passed the Senate (31-11) and House, requiring the Maryland Parole Commission to provide enhanced transparency measures for incarcerated individuals. The bill mandates that the Commission's annual reports contain specific information and requires the Commission to document and provide certain records to incarcerated individuals and the public within defined timeframes.
What changed
The Maryland Parole Commission will be required to alter its annual reporting format to include specific information and must now proactively provide documents to incarcerated individuals and their representatives within defined timeframes, rather than simply allowing document examination upon request. The bill mandates that the Commission document, state on the record, and make available to the public certain information related to parole decisions and processes.
The bill passed with amendments adopted on March 19, 2026, and received final passage on March 20, 2026. Government agencies and parole administrators should review their current document provision and reporting procedures to ensure compliance with the enhanced transparency requirements once the bill is signed into law. The legislation affects Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services operations and county-level parole and probation administration.
What to do next
- Review current parole commission document provision procedures against new proactive disclosure requirements
- Update annual reporting templates to include mandated information categories
- Ensure compliance protocols address the requirement to document and state on the record specified parole decision factors
Source document (simplified)
ChangeBridge / Maryland / SB822 Passed SB822 Senate Bill Passed 2026-03-20
Correctional Services - Maryland Parole Commission and Erroneously Convicted Individuals - Improvements in Transparency and Equity
Requiring the annual report of the Maryland Parole Commission to contain certain information; altering a certain provision of law to require the Commission to provide certain documents to an incarcerated individual and the incarcerated individual's representative at a certain time, rather than allow the incarcerated individual to examine the documents on request; requiring the Commission to document, state on the record, provide to an incarcerated individual, and make available to the public certain information; etc.
Bill Details
State Maryland
Session 2026 Regular Session
Chamber Senate
Official Source mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation...
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Sponsors
William Smith (Sen - D)
Action History
2026-04-06 H Second Reading Passed 2026-04-06 H Favorable Adopted 2026-04-06 H Favorable Report by Judiciary 2026-03-26 H Hearing 3/31 at 1:00 p.m. 2026-03-21 H Referred Judiciary 2026-03-20 S Third Reading Passed (31-11) 2026-03-19 S Second Reading Passed with Amendments 2026-03-19 S Favorable with Amendments {753321/1 Adopted 2026-03-19 S Favorable with Amendments Report by Judicial Proceedings 2026-02-12 S Hearing 2/25 at 1:00 p.m. 2026-02-06 S First Reading Judicial Proceedings
Votes
2026-03-20 Third Reading Passed Yea: 31 Nay: 11
Committee Referrals
2026-02-06 S Judicial Proceedings 2026-03-21 H Judiciary
Amendments
2026-03-19 Favorable with Amendments 753321/1 Adopted Adopted
Bill Text Versions
2026-02-10 Introduced 2026-03-19 Engrossed
Subjects
Corrections Committees and Commissions Electronic Government Hearings Incarcerated Individuals Notices Parole and Probation Privacy Public Information Public Safety and Correctional Services, Department of Recordings Records Reports Time Victims Voting Counties Disclosure Medical Testing and Diagnosis State's Attorneys Legislative data powered by LegiScan (CC BY 4.0)
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