News and Information
E-News
Guidelines E-News is a periodic newsletter delivered via email by the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy. Guidelines E-News provides information on the system of voluntary guidelines for the State’s circuit courts and highlights changes to the guidelines. It also provides useful information on worksheet completion and submission.
E-News 2026, Volume 21
News Releases – 2026
- January 31, 2026: The MSCCSP released its 2025 Annual Report which summarizes the Commission’s work last year, describes FY 2025 circuit court sentencing trends in Maryland, provides a comprehensive examination of judicial compliance with the State’s voluntary sentencing guidelines, and details information provided on the State’s sentencing guidelines worksheets. The report also offers a description of planned activities for the year ahead.
- January 1, 2026: The MSCCSP released new versions of the Maryland Sentencing Guidelines Manual (MSGM) and the Guidelines Offense Table, effective January 1, 2026. These updates include: (1) revisions to the Guidelines Offense Table; (2) instructions for calculating sentencing guidelines for multiple violations, including contemporaneous violations, of CR, § 4-204 or CR, § 4-306(b); and (3) a revision to the definition of psychological victim injury in the sentencing guidelines Offense Score (MSGM, 6.1.B. Victim Injury). The January 2026 Guidelines E-News provides further details about these updates, as well as a note regarding the Maryland Automated Guidelines System (MAGS).
