The Maryland General Assembly created the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy (MSCCSP) in 1999 as an independent agency to support fair and proportional sentencing policy and to monitor the State’s voluntary sentencing guidelines for criminal cases sentenced in the circuit courts. The MSCCSP is responsible for collecting and automating the sentencing guidelines worksheets, maintaining the sentencing guidelines database, monitoring circuit court sentencing practice, adopting changes to the guidelines consistent with the sentencing practices of Maryland circuit court judges, and providing training and orientation to criminal justice practitioners who apply the sentencing guidelines.
News
November 17, 2023
Proposed amendments to the sentencing guidelines were published in the November 17, 2023, issue of the Maryland Register (Volume 50, Issue 23). The proposed amendments have three purposes. The first purpose is to add the definition of a feigned weapon and to clarify that sentences to probation before judgement (PBJ) pursuant to either CP, §6-220(b) or CP, §6-220(c) are included in the definition of adjudications. The second purpose is to replace references to “adjudication of guilt” with “adjudication”, “convicted offense” with “offense”, and “conviction” with “adjudication” or “offense” in instances where the intended meaning of “conviction” includes PBJs pursuant to either CP, §6-220(b) or CP, §6-220(c). Finally, the third purpose is to specify that a feigned weapon shall be scored 1 point under part C (weapon presence) of the offense score. Public comments on the proposed amendments will be accepted through December 18, 2023.
