Ch. 577                                          LAWS OF MARYLAND

CHAPTER 577

(House Bill 1235)

AN ACT concerning

Hospitals and Related Institutions Infants' Footprints

Identification of Newborn Infants

FOR the purpose of requiring certain institutions to footprint
certain children and fingerprint the mothers of those
children under certain circumstances; requiring certain
institutions to permanently maintain the footprints and
fingerprints made under this Act; requiring the Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene to approve the method of
footprinting and fingerprinting used by an institution;
requiring certain institutions to inform the parent or

parents of certain requirements; allowing certain

requirements to be waived under certain circumstances
perform at least one of the specified newborn infant
identification procedures; providing certain immunity to
certain institutions under certain circumstances; requiring
the Secretary to adopt certain regulations; requiring
certain personnel of an institution to be trained to
footprint and fingerprint according to certain standards in
all infant identification procedures used by the
institution; defining certain terms; providing for the
termination of this Act; and generally relating to the
footprinting of children and fingerprinting of mothers by
certain institution identification of newborn infants.

BY adding to

Article - Health - General

Section 4-401 20-401 and 20-402 to be under the new subtitle

"Subtitle 4. Infant's Footprints Identification of

Newborn Infants"
Annotated Code of Maryland
(1982 Volume and 1987 Supplement) (1987 Replacement Volume)

Preamble

WHEREAS, Two newborn infants were kidnapped from Maryland
hospitals during 1987; and

WHEREAS, Infants have also been kidnapped from the hospitals
of other states; and

WHEREAS, The ability to positively identify kidnapped
infants would serve the interests of the people of Maryland and
warrants the particular attention of the medical and law
enforcement communities; now, therefore,

- 3992 -