Ch. 563                                    1996 LAWS OF MARYLAND

CHAPTER 563
(House Bill 299)

AN ACT concerning

Maryland Commission on Criminal Sentencing Reform Policy

FOR the purpose of creating a Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission Maryland
Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy, providing for the appointment or
designation of members of the Commission; establishing that members of the
Commission may not receive a salary but shall be reimbursed for certain expenses;

designating staff for the Commission; requiring the Commission to hold its first
meeting by a certain date; requiring the Commission to perform certain duties;
granting the Commission certain powers; requiring the Commission to make certain
recommendations; requiring the Commission to submit certain draft legislation to
the General Assembly by a certain date; providing for the termination of the
Commission; defining certain terms; establishing certain policy goals and objectives;
providing for the application of the established policies; establishing certain
procedures, powers, and duties; establishing the purposes and objectives of the
Commission; requiring the Commission to develop a correctional population
simulation model for certain purposes; requiring the Commission to submit a
certain report; making this Act subject to a certain contingency; providing for the
termination of the Commission; defining certain terms; and generally relating to the
Maryland Commission on Criminal Sentencing Reform Policy.

BY adding to

Article 41 - Governor - Executive and Administrative Departments

Section 18-310 .

Annotated Code of Maryland

(1993 Replacement Volume and 1995 Supplement)

Preamble

WHEREAS, The effective administration of justice and protection of public

safety require a sentencing and correctional process that has credibility with the general
public and with criminal offenders; and

WHEREAS, The credibility and effectiveness of the current sentencing and
correctional process is diminished by common beliefs that prisoners do not serve an
adequate portion of their sentences, that traditional probation and parole supervision arc
not meaningful punishments, and that there is substantial unwarranted disparity in
sentences for similar crimes; and

WHEREAS, Over the past 10 years, the Maryland prison population has grown 72
percent, from 12,400 to 21,300 inmates, at a cost of more than $465 million in capital
funds and more than $206 million annually in operating funds, and a substantial portion
of the growth has been low-level, nonviolent offenders and probation violators; and

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