Talbot County Council votes to send letter opposing Maryland’s Senate Bill 791

A majority of the Talbot County Council voted to send a letter to the Maryland General Assembly opposing Senate Bill 791, known in staff summaries as the Community Trust Act.

County counsel summarized the bill to the council and quoted from the fiscal and policy notes: the measure would restrict, with certain exceptions, communications between employees or agents of state and local correctional facilities and federal immigration authorities and would require each correctional facility and law‑enforcement agency to adopt policies consistent with the bill. Counsel said the bill would allow an individual who believes the law was violated to bring an action seeking actual and punitive damages and injunctive relief.

An unnamed councilmember moved that the council send a letter opposing SB 791 and asked that the letter be transmitted before the bill's hearing the following day. The motion was seconded and the secretary called the roll; the motion passed and staff said the letter would be sent the next morning.

Why it matters: County counsel told the council the bill would impose new constraints on communications by detention center employees and could expose the county or individual employees to civil liability if the local policy were violated. The hearing schedule in Annapolis and the requested overnight turnaround led the council to treat the item as an emergency addition to the County Manager’s report.

What happened next: Council staff said they would forward the council’s position to the county’s legislative liaisons and to members of the county’s federal and state delegations. The council recorded the vote in open session and directed staff to send the letter the next morning.