---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal Law – Assault in the First Degree – Strangulation"
description: "Criminal Law – Assault in the First Degree – Strangulation"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 212"
citation: "Maryland SB 212 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Beidle", "Cassilly", "Elfreth", "Guzzone", "Kagan", "King", "Klausmeier", "Kramer", "Lam", "Lee", "Ready", "Serafini", "Smith", "Sydnor", "Waldstreicher", "West", "Young", "Zucker"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 12
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-01-16"
last_action: "2020-05-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b7afccef-32aa-4113-a95b-878ff4ad304c"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0212?ys=2020RS&search=True"
source_hash: "bf726c3d4abb2c3fa3c6a7e4635799775389a9b6aafe2797a90320f9b6959f09"
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 SB 212 (2020) — Criminal Law – Assault in the First Degree – Strangulation

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Criminal Law – Assault in the First Degree – Strangulation** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/Chapters_noln/CH_120_sb0212t.pdf)
2. **First - Criminal Law - Assault in the First Degree - Suffocation or Strangulation** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/bills/sb/sb0212f.pdf)
3. **Third - Criminal Law – Assault in the First Degree – Strangulation** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/bills/sb/sb0212t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **45–0** (pass) · upper
- On Third Reading — **130–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Beidle — primary (person)
- Cassilly — primary (person)
- Elfreth — primary (person)
- Guzzone — primary (person)
- Kagan — primary (person)
- King — primary (person)
- Klausmeier — primary (person)
- Kramer — primary (person)
- Lam — primary (person)
- Lee — primary (person)
- Ready — primary (person)
- Serafini — primary (person)
- Smith — primary (person)
- Sydnor — primary (person)
- Waldstreicher — primary (person)
- West — primary (person)
- Young — primary (person)
- Zucker — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-16** First Reading Judicial Proceedings `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-17** Hearing 1/29 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2020-03-12** Favorable with Amendments Report by Judicial Proceedings `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-12** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-12** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2020-03-15** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2020-03-15** Referred Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-03-18** Favorable Report by Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-18** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **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 120 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b7afccef-32aa-4113-a95b-878ff4ad304c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).