On May 26, Gov. Wes Moore signed the Youth Charging Reform Act into law, removing five offenses for which 16-17-year-olds are automatically charged as adults. The law will go into effect on October 1, 2026.

Prior to the law’s passage, 16-17 year old were automatically charged for 33 offenses in Maryland, including misdemeanor firearm possession, first-degree assault, robbery, carjacking, homicide offenses, and sexual assault. This new law removes first-degree assault and misdemeanor handgun offenses from that list. In 2024, firearm possession and first-degree assault accounted for 27.6% and 19.3% of 1,008 charges filed against youth as adults, the most recent calendar year data from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services shows.

“Governor Moore signed the Youth Charging Reform Act to ensure case moves faster toward the accountability, services, and outcomes that make Maryland communities safer,” said Rhyan Lake, spokesperson for the governor. 

The bill in its final form is a compromise for many advocates, who would have liked to see more of those 33 charges removed for 16-17 year olds, but they say it’s a step in the right direction. Original legislation included more charges to be dropped from autocharging. Supporters of the bill believe it will better serve youth for more of them to start in juvenile court instead of being  held in adult jail while awaiting trial.

“Most states only have automatic charging for first-degree murder, first-degree rape, maybe second degree of those two,” said Alice Wilkerson of Advance Maryland, a coalition advocating for the health and well-being of all Marylanders. 

Maryland sends more children to adult court than than every other state in the US except for Alabama. Automatically charging youth who commit offenses as adults disproportionately affects Black youth. According to The Sentencing Project, Black youth are 8.7 times more likely in the state of Maryland to be incarcerated than white youth. According to the Maryland Youth Justice Coalition, 80% of youth charged as adults are Black.

“The Youth Charging Reform Act represents an important shift away from punitive policies that fail to improve public safety and inflict lasting harm on young people,” Olivia Naugle, youth justice campaign strategist at The Sentencing Project, said in a press release. 

“This victory is the result of fourteen years of sustained advocacy, partnership, and leadership from community organizations, youth leaders, families, and lawmakers committed to building a more fair and effective system, despite sensationalized and false narratives that seek to criminalize our children.”

For the bill’s sponsor Will Smith, Maryland’s autocharging system is “inefficient, costly, and harmful to young people.”

This new law “ensures that hundreds of Maryland youth are directed toward support and services within the juvenile system, rather than a process that led to worse outcomes for both youth and public safety.”

Advocates of the Youth Charging Reform Act want children treated as such and to receive rehabilitation services appropriate for their age, including education and mental health services. The Youth Charging Reform Act will send a child offender to the Department of Juvenile Services, where a judge hears their case within 30 days and enters them into DJS to receive the services. Automatically charging a 16-17 year old sends them to adult jail, where they can wait for up to 18 months before their case is heard.

“While they are sitting in jail, they are not getting the services they need,” said Wilkerson on the long waits for cases to be heard. “[Minors] need immediate accountability for their actions.” Services can include counseling and education, as well as group therapy.

Kristen Henning, a law professor and director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative at Georgetown Law, spoke on a panel earlier this year with Smith about the dangers of treating child offenders as adults.

“Charging children as adults is ineffective, inhumane, and disproportionately impacts Black and brown children,” said Henning. “Youth are more likely to re-offend when sent to adult facilities due to exposure to more violence.”

“Because of their age and development level, youth are less culpable and more amenable to rehabilitation,” said Henning. “The DJS is designed to treat children like children.”

But opponents of the bill focus on punishing children, drumming up fear that kids will be let back on the street. They think the DJS is not punishment enough.

“I want to criminalize kids. I want to criminalize violent offenders. I want to criminalize people who wave handguns from cars to other people who engage as drug traffickers,” Del. Jason C. Buckel, a Republican representing Allegheny County, said at an April 6 session of the Maryland General Assembly. 

The Maryland States Attorney’s Association raises similar recidivism concerns. Ivan Bates, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney, argued that juvenile offenders leave the Department of Juvenile Services and commit other crimes.

“We have young people doing violent actions, and we are not putting them in the system that gives them the services to help them change their behavior, they are just going to come out and potentially do that same behavior,” Bates told ABC 7 – WJLA News.

Bates’ office did not reply to multiple requests for comment.

Research shows that when children enter the juvenile justice system, they are more likely to be rehabilitated and less likely to reoffend than if they are placed in an adult facility. According to the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, 63% of youth who enter the justice system for delinquency never return to court on delinquency charges.

The Youth Charging Reform Act makes it more likely that children who encounter the justice system return to their communities healthier and better treated for mental illnesses, said Natasha Dartigue, Maryland’s Public Defender. 

Children who enter the adult court system suffer irreparable mental health damage due to confinement in adult facilities without access to proper rehabilitation, she said. 

“In Baltimore specifically, fewer children will be housed in an overcrowded adult facility where they have no therapy or other rehabilitative services, limited access to medications, no exercise, and minimal contact with their families,” says Dartigue.