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Panel supports bill closing loophole to prosecute school resource officers who abuse students

Judicial Proceedings Committee · January 27, 2026
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Summary

Senate Bill 81 would make clear that school resource officers (SROs) who engage in sexual conduct with students enrolled at their assigned school can be criminally prosecuted even if the student is 18. Prosecutors, law‑enforcement and survivor advocates described a recent local case that exposed the statutory gap and asked the committee to advance the measure.

Senate Bill 81, sponsored by Senator William Fulton, seeks to close a gap in Maryland law that has, prosecutors said, permitted certain school resource officer conduct to avoid criminal prosecution when the student victim was an enrolled student and the conduct fell outside age‑based statutes.

Joyce King, deputy state's attorney in Frederick County, and Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Eiler of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office urged the committee to approve the bill as a modest clarification to existing law to ensure the position of authority school officers hold does not permit "inappropriate conduct" with students. Jessica Garth, chief of the special victims unit in Prince George's County, described a case in which an officer groomed a student who was 16, and said statutory language prevented more robust criminal charging.

Advocates such as the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault supported the bill as a prevention and accountability measure. Committee members registered support and no opposition was offered at the hearing.