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Bill would form workgroup to study Maryland’s extreme risk protective orders
Summary
HB 15-41 would create a temporary cross-agency workgroup to evaluate how Maryland's extreme risk protective order (ERPO) laws are being used and to recommend improvements; sponsor said the bill does not change the law but is meant to identify barriers to effective use.
Delegate Bandari introduced HB 15-41 as a study bill to examine how Maryland's extreme risk protective order (ERPO) framework operates across agencies and whether the law is functioning as intended.
Bandari said the bill would convene public-health, law-enforcement, judicial and mental-health experts — including the secretary of health, the attorney general and the public defender — to assess ERPO usage, identify barriers and propose changes to the General Assembly. "House bill 15 41 does not change that red flag law," the sponsor said, describing the measure as a temporary workgroup and evaluation with a sunset.
Members asked whether the Department of Health’s existing initiatives covered the same ground; the sponsor and other supporters said prior efforts focused on suicide prevention and public-health awareness, not a comprehensive cross-agency evaluation of ERPO implementation. Questions also touched on timing: the bill's implementation timeline coincides with election and inauguration milestones and a committee member asked whether the matter could wait until next year; the sponsor said that given recent tragedies and constituent concerns, the study should proceed promptly.
Supporters argued the study would be low-cost and could be completed within existing resources, and discussed past incidents in Baltimore County as impetus for action. The committee concluded the hearing on the measure after questions.
