Maryland Legislature

 Prohibiting a person from placing or inscribing an item or a symbol, including an actual or depicted noose or swastika, whether temporary or permanent, on any real or personal property, public or private, without the express permission of the owner, owner's agent, or lawful occupant of the property, with the intent to threaten or intimidate any person or group of persons; and establishing that a penalty of imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding $5,000 or both applies to a violation of the Act. 

 Authorizing certain individuals to satisfy the requirement to possess and display a driver's license while driving a motor vehicle by carrying and displaying a certain recall notice issued under the Act within the previous 60 days; requiring a law enforcement officer who confiscates an individual's driver's license for certain reasons to provide the holder of the license with a certain recall notice; and requiring the Motor Vehicle Administration to develop the form for the recall notice and provide the form to law enforcement agencies. 

 Altering the standard of proof by which the court must make a certain finding relating to the admission in evidence, during certain criminal trials, of a statement offered against a party who caused the unavailability of the declarant of the statement under certain circumstances; etc. 

 Repealing the Motor Vehicle Administration's authority to suspend the registration of a motor vehicle if the owner or driver of the motor vehicle fails to pay the penalty assessed for certain violations recorded by a traffic control signal monitoring system or a speed monitoring system. 

 Requiring a jurisdiction that uses a pretrial risk scoring instrument to assist in determining the eligibility for pretrial release of an individual charged with a crime to have an independent validation study of the instrument conducted at least once every 5 years; making an independent validation study conducted in accordance with the Act for a certain instrument used in a certain pretrial services program eligible for funding from the Pretrial Services Program Grant Fund; etc. 

 Repealing the crime of sodomy; making conforming changes; clarifying that certain evidence is not admissible as an infamous crime; providing that a conviction before October 1, 2020, for sodomy may not be expunged under certain circumstances; etc. 

 Providing for enforcement only as a secondary offense for a violation of the requirement to maintain vehicle registration plates to be free from foreign material and to be clearly legible. 

 Prohibiting a person from intentionally strangling another in the commission of an assault; and providing a penalty of imprisonment not exceeding 25 years for a violation of the Act. 

 Altering the requirements and procedures governing certain programs that authorize installment payments for certain motor vehicle traffic citations or judgment debts; repealing certain provisions of law governing the requirement that the Motor Vehicle Administration suspend the driver's license and vehicle registration of a certain debtor; clarifying that a person may satisfy certain traffic citations by entering into a certain installment payment plan; applying the Act retroactively; etc. 

 Authorizing a court to issue an order authorizing or directing a law enforcement officer to use a cell site simulator after making a certain determination; limiting to 30 days or less the time period during which a cell site simulator may be used or location information may be obtained under the authority of a certain order; requiring cell site simulator use by law enforcement to begin 10 days after issuance of an order; providing that evidence obtained in violation of the Act is subject to the exclusionary rule, as judicially determined; etc. 

 Requiring the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission to require entrance-level and in-service police training conducted by the State and each county and municipal police training school to include in their curriculum training relating to the criminal laws concerning recognition of, reporting of, and response to hate crimes. 

 Providing that members of the State Police Retirement System no longer make member contributions after 28 years of service credit is earned; and providing that certain members of the Law Enforcement Officers' Pension System no longer make member contributions after 32 years and 6 months of service credit is earned.