---
type: "Bill"
title: "Courts - Discovery - In-Custody Witness Testimony"
description: "Courts - Discovery - In-Custody Witness Testimony"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 637"
citation: "Maryland HB 637 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Acevero", "Barron", "D.M. Davis", "Fennell", "Moon"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 13
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-01-29"
last_action: "2020-05-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e9a7b912-fa52-4012-8a93-d7e910b139e6"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0637?ys=2020RS&search=True"
source_hash: "b0cb4526f212433c736f19a63245e141050f50387440a983a79ac350ff905d2d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-md"]
---

# Maryland HB 637 (2020) — Courts - Discovery - In-Custody Witness Testimony

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Chapter - Courts - Discovery - In-Custody Witness Testimony** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/Chapters_noln/CH_282_hb0637t.pdf)
2. **First - Courts - Discovery - In-Custody Witness Testimony** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/bills/hb/hb0637f.pdf)
3. **Third - Courts - Discovery - In-Custody Witness Testimony** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/bills/hb/hb0637t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **132–0** (pass) · lower
- On Third Reading — **45–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Acevero — primary (person)
- Barron — primary (person)
- D.M. Davis — primary (person)
- Fennell — primary (person)
- Moon — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-29** First Reading Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-29** Hearing 2/18 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2020-03-15** Favorable with Amendments Report by Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-15** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-15** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2020-03-17** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2020-03-17** Referred Judicial Proceedings `referral-committee`
- **2020-03-17** Favorable Report by Judicial Proceedings `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-18** Favorable Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-18** Second Reading Passed
- **2020-03-18** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2020-03-18** Returned Passed
- **2020-05-08** Enacted under Article II, Section 17(c) of the Maryland Constitution - Chapter 282 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e9a7b912-fa52-4012-8a93-d7e910b139e6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).