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Read. Follow. Verify.Maryland mandates minimum standards for immigration detention facilities and expands oversight authority
Last action · March 12, 2026: Hearing canceledSponsor: Will Smith
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What This Bill Would Do
Senate Bill 985 requires the Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services to adopt regulations establishing governing the care, custody, and conditions of s in immigration detention facilities. The measure empowers the Maryland Commission on Correctional Standards to inspect facilities, review complaints, order immediate closures for life-threatening conditions, and authorizes the Attorney General to bring civil actions against private operators for violations.
Imposes mandatory health, safety, and operational standards on immigration detention facilities in Maryland, establishing state-level oversight and legal penalties of up to $10,000 per violation for private operators who fail to comply or retaliate against reporting employees.
- The Maryland Commission on Correctional Standards is the state agency responsible for establishing and monitoring compliance with operational standards in Maryland correctional facilities. context
- Emergency bills in Maryland require a three-fifths vote of all members elected to both houses of the General Assembly to take effect immediately upon enactment. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Civil detainees
Their care, custody, housing conditions, safety, and rights in immigration detention facilities become subject to mandatory state standards and Commission oversight.
Private entities operating detention facilities
They must comply with annual certifications, allow unannounced inspections, adhere to audit findings, and face potential civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day for violations.
Licensed health care practitioners and certified security guards
They are legally required to report minimum mandatory standards violations and security breaches to the Commission under threat of disciplinary action by their regulating bodies.
Key Facts
- The Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services must adopt regulations establishing minimum mandatory standards for civil detainees in immigration detention facilities regarding security, safety, food services, housing, sanitation, rights, and record keeping.
- Beginning on or before July 1, 2026, every correctional and immigration detention facility must submit an annual certification regarding utilities, functional HVAC, emergency power systems, and an emergency operations plan.
- Any person may report a minimum mandatory standards violation to the Commission anonymously through an online link maintained by the Department.
- Licensed health care practitioners and certified security guards providing services at a facility must report standards violations and known system security breaches to the Commission, subject to professional disciplinary action for failure to report.
Show all 9 facts
- Facilities are prohibited from retaliating against employees who submit good-faith violation reports.
- The Commission may order the immediate cessation of operations of any facility found to be life-threatening or health-endangering, or where an inspection is impeded.
- The Attorney General may bring an action against private entities operating detention facilities for retaliation, certification failures, inspection impediments, or audit noncompliance, seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation per day.
- Emergency regulations required under this Act must be adopted on or before June 1, 2026.
- The Act takes effect as an emergency measure from the date of enactment upon receiving a three-fifths vote in both houses of the General Assembly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can violations be reported anonymously?
What penalties can private facility operators face for noncompliance?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
4 actions- Mar 12, 2026SenateHearing canceled
- Mar 6, 2026SenateHearing 3/12 at 1:00 p.m.
- Mar 4, 2026SenateCommitteeRereferred to Judicial Proceedings
- Feb 15, 2026SenateIntroducedFirst Reading Senate Rules
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of State Correctional Oversight to Federal Civil Immigration Facilities
The bill explicitly extends the regulatory and inspection authority of the Maryland Commission on Correctional Standards—traditionally focused on criminal correctional facilities—to cover facilities housing individuals for federal civil immigration violations.
Connected Entities
Sources
mgaleg.maryland.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy75Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz60Current news / social attention level
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