PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor                            H.B. 342

"AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That except as provided in this Act,
notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, this Act may not be construed to
impose a duty on or otherwise require a person to disclose that an individual is registered
under this Act."

Section 6 of House Bill 343 contains an equivalent section that omits "That" and
"notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary." Section 2 of House Bill 342 also
has this provision, but has the word "and" prior to "notwithstanding...."

18.     Senate Bill 605, Section 8 expressly authorizes the Court of Appeals to adopt
rules governing the determination of sexually violent predators. House Bills 342 and 343

do not.

19.     Senate Bill 605 and House Bill 342 have an effective date of October 1, 1997.
House Bill 343 would take effect July 1, 1997.

Very truly yours,
J. Joseph Curran, Jr.

Attorney General

House Bill No. 342

AN ACT concerning

Child Sexual Offenders - Required Notice of Registration

FOR the purpose of requiring certain supervising authorities to notify the Department of
Public Safety and Correctional Services of the release of certain actions relating to
child sexual offenders; altering provisions of law to require certain child sexual
offenders to register with a certain supervising authority, instead of in addition to
the local law enforcement agency: altering provisions of law to require the
Department, instead of in addition to a local law enforcement agency, to be
responsible for registering certain child sexual offenders and the receipt,
maintenance, and dissemination of certain notices, records, and registration
statements; requiring the Department to notify certain law enforcement agencies of
a registration; altering provisions to require the Department of Public Safety and
Correctional Services and local law enforcement agencies to make certain
notifications of registration statements regarding child sexual offenders to certain
organizations and persons under certain circumstances; requiring the notification of
any other person or organization that may serve to protect the public concerning a
specific child sexual offender; allowing local law enforcement agencies to make
certain disclosures; prohibiting the disclosure of the identity of the victim of an
offense that requires registration of the offender; providing that certain disclosures
may not be construed to limit or prohibit other disclosures; requiring the
Department to establish certain procedures; providing for the contents of the
registration statement that is provided to certain persons: requiring the supervising
authority to obtain a photograph and fingerprints of the child sexual offender and
include copies of them in the registration statement; requiring the supervising
authority to send the registration statement to the Department; altering certain
time periods; requiring the Department to reimburse supervising authorities for the

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