---
type: "Bill"
title: "Civil Actions - Child Sexual Abuse - Definition, Damages, and Statute of Limitations (The Child Victims Act of 2023)"
description: "Civil Actions - Child Sexual Abuse - Definition, Damages, and Statute of Limitations (The Child Victims Act of 2023)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 686"
citation: "Maryland SB 686 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Smith"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 22
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2023-02-06"
last_action: "2023-04-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/144dc69d-9d9d-41b6-ae7e-28909985545e"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0686?ys=2023RS&search=True"
source_hash: "89cca193282954cb1b1bbec872ab8e5d6ce4af082036595001f59020b669c139"
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 686 (2023) — Civil Actions - Child Sexual Abuse - Definition, Damages, and Statute of Limitations (The Child Victims Act of 2023)

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Civil Actions - Child Sexual Abuse - Definition, Damages, and Statute of Limitations (The Child Victims Act of 2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2023RS/Chapters_noln/CH_5_sb0686t.pdf)
2. **First - Civil Actions - Child Sexual Abuse - Definition, Damages, and Statute of Limitations (The Child Victims Act of 2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2023RS/bills/sb/sb0686f.pdf)
3. **Third - Civil Actions - Child Sexual Abuse - Definition, Damages, and Statute of Limitations (The Child Victims Act of 2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2023RS/bills/sb/sb0686t.pdf)

## Sponsors

- Smith — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-06** First Reading Judicial Proceedings `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-14** Hearing 2/23 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2023-03-13** Favorable with Amendments Report by Judicial Proceedings `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-13** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-13** Motion Laid Over (Senator Hershey) Adopted
- **2023-03-14** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-14** Motion Special Order until Later Today (Senator West) Adopted
- **2023-03-14** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-14** Floor Amendment {
- **2023-03-14** Floor Amendment {
- **2023-03-14** Floor Amendment {
- **2023-03-14** Floor Amendment {
- **2023-03-14** Floor Amendment {
- **2023-03-14** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2023-03-16** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2023-03-17** Referred Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-22** Hearing 3/28 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2023-04-05** Favorable Report by Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-05** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-06** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2023-04-07** Returned Passed
- **2023-04-11** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 5 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/144dc69d-9d9d-41b6-ae7e-28909985545e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).