SB 212
Department of Legislative Services
Maryland General Assembly
2020 Session
FISCAL AND POLICY NOTE
Third Reader - Revised
Senate Bill 212 (Senator Lee, et al.)
Judicial Proceedings Judiciary
Criminal Law – Assault in the First Degree – Strangulation
This bill expands the crime of felony first-degree assault to include the commission of an
assault by intentionally “strangling” another. “Strangling” is defined as impeding the
normal breathing or blood circulation of another person by applying pressure to the other
person’s throat or neck. A violator is subject to the existing statutory penalty for felony
first-degree assault of imprisonment for up to 25 years.
Fiscal Summary
State Effect: Minimal decrease in general fund revenues from fines imposed in the
District Court. Minimal increase in general fund expenditures as a result of the bill’s
expanded application of existing incarceration penalties.
Local Effect: Minimal decrease in local revenues from fines imposed in circuit court
cases. Minimal decrease in local expenditures if the bill shifts defendants from local
detention facilities to State correctional facilities.
Small Business Effect: None.
Analysis
Current Law: A person may not commit an assault. However, the consequences of an
assault vary depending on the circumstances involved.
First-degree Assault
A person commits a first-degree assault if he/she (1) intentionally causes or attempts to
cause serious physical injury to another person or (2) commits an assault with a firearm,
including a handgun, assault pistol, machine gun, or other specified firearms. A person who
commits a first-degree assault is guilty of a felony and subject to imprisonment for up to
25 years.
“Serious physical injury” means physical injury that:
creates a substantial risk of death; or
causes permanent or protracted serious disfigurement, loss of the function of any
bodily member or organ, or impairment of the function of any bodily member or
organ.
Felony Second-degree Assault
A person commits a felony second-degree assault if he/she intentionally causes “physical
injury” to another and knows or has reason to know that the other person is (1) a law
enforcement officer or parole or probation agent engaged in the performance of the
officer/agent’s official duties or (2) a firefighter, an emergency medical technician, a rescue
squad member, or any other first responder engaged in providing emergency medical care
or rescue services. “Physical injury” means any impairment of physical condition,
excluding minor injuries. Violators are subject to imprisonment for up to 10 years and/or a
maximum fine of $5,000.
Misdemeanor Second-degree Assault
The misdemeanor second-degree assault statute applies to assaults that are not considered
to be felony assaults in the first or second degree. Under the misdemeanor second-degree
assault statute, a person is prohibited from committing an assault. A violator is subject to
imprisonment for up to 10 years and/or a maximum fine of $2,500. Assault means the
crimes of assault, battery, and assault and battery, which are defined through case law.
Background: The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services advises that it
conducted intake at its correctional facilities for 957 individuals convicted of misdemeanor
second-degree assault during fiscal 2017. The average sentence for this population was
41 months.
State Revenues: General fund revenues decrease if misdemeanor second-degree assault
cases in the District Court are prosecuted as felony first-degree assault cases in the circuit
courts. This estimate assumes that in some cases, the behavior classified as first-degree
assault under the bill is currently being prosecuted as misdemeanor second-degree assault.
State Expenditures: General fund expenditures increase minimally as a result of the bill’s
expanded application of the first-degree assault incarceration penalty due to more people
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being committed to State correctional facilities and longer incarcerations. The number of
people convicted under the bill’s provisions is expected to be minimal.
Persons serving a sentence longer than 18 months are incarcerated in State correctional
facilities. Currently, the average total cost per inmate, including overhead, is estimated at
$3,700 per month. Persons serving a sentence of one year or less in a jurisdiction other than
Baltimore City are sentenced to local detention facilities. For persons sentenced to a term
of between 12 and 18 months, the sentencing judge has the discretion to order that the
sentence be served at a local facility or a State correctional facility. The State provides
assistance to the counties for locally sentenced inmates and for (1) inmates who are
sentenced to and awaiting transfer to the State correctional system; (2) sentenced inmates
confined in a local detention center between 12 and 18 months; and (3) inmates who have
been sentenced to the custody of the State but are confined in or who receive reentry or
other prerelease programming and services from a local facility.
The State does not pay for pretrial detention time in a local correctional facility. Persons
sentenced in Baltimore City are generally incarcerated in State correctional facilities. The
Baltimore Pretrial Complex, a State-operated facility, is used primarily for pretrial
detentions.
Local Revenues: Local revenues decrease minimally as a result of fewer monetary
penalties from circuit court misdemeanor second-degree assault cases. Any increase in
circuit court caseloads from cases shifted from the District Court does not affect local
revenues, since felony first-degree assault does not carry a monetary penalty.
Local Expenditures: Expenditures decrease minimally if more individuals are
incarcerated in State correctional facilities as a result of the bill. Counties pay the full cost
of incarceration for people in their facilities for the first 12 months of the sentence.
Per diem operating costs of local detention facilities have ranged from approximately
$40 to $170 per inmate in recent years.
Additional Information
Prior Introductions: SB 1154 of 2017, a similar bill, received a hearing in the
Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, but no further action was taken.
Designated Cross File: HB 233 (Delegate Pippy, et al.) - Judiciary.
Information Source(s): Kent, Montgomery, and Worcester counties; City of
Westminster; towns of Bel Air and Leonardtown; Maryland State Commission on Criminal
Sentencing Policy; Judiciary (Administrative Office of the Courts); Office of the Public
SB 212/ Page 3
Defender; Maryland State’s Attorneys’ Association; Department of Public Safety and
Correctional Services; Department of State Police; Department of Legislative Services
Fiscal Note History: First Reader - January 24, 2020
rh/aad Third Reader - March 16, 2020
Revised - Amendment(s) - March 16, 2020
Analysis by: Donavan A. Ham Direct Inquiries to:
(410) 946-5510
(301) 970-5510
SB 212/ Page 4
Statutes affected: Text - First - Criminal Law - Assault in the First Degree - Suffocation or Strangulation: 3-202 Criminal Law
Text - Third - Criminal Law – Assault in the First Degree – Strangulation: 3-202 Criminal Law