---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal Law - Victims of Child Sex Trafficking and Human Trafficking - Safe Harbor and Service Response"
description: "Criminal Law - Victims of Child Sex Trafficking and Human Trafficking - Safe Harbor and Service Response"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 297"
citation: "Maryland HB 297 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Acevero", "Bartlett", "Cardin", "Crutchfield", "D. Jones", "Forbes", "Griffith", "Lopez", "Moon", "Pasteur", "Phillips", "Simmons", "Simpson", "Taylor", "Williams", "Wilson"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 16
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2023-01-25"
last_action: "2023-05-16"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f94d87e5-07c2-421b-aeb7-ee7c6204b3c9"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0297?ys=2023RS&search=True"
source_hash: "1103c01cd8d0d6768172a0b7d5f3e868df61435eaa4c3c08faddf351c06d89c0"
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 297 (2023) — Criminal Law - Victims of Child Sex Trafficking and Human Trafficking - Safe Harbor and Service Response

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Criminal Law - Victims of Child Sex Trafficking and Human Trafficking - Safe Harbor and Service Response** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2023RS/Chapters_noln/CH_687_hb0297e.pdf)
2. **Enrolled - Criminal Law - Victims of Child Sex Trafficking and Human Trafficking - Safe Harbor and Service Response** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2023RS/bills/hb/hb0297e.pdf)
3. **First - Criminal Law - Victims of Child Sex Trafficking and Human Trafficking - Safe Harbor and Service Response** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2023RS/bills/hb/hb0297f.pdf)
4. **Third - Criminal Law - Victims of Child Sex Trafficking and Human Trafficking - Safe Harbor and Service Response** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2023RS/bills/hb/hb0297t.pdf)

## Sponsors

- Acevero — primary (person)
- Bartlett — primary (person)
- Cardin — primary (person)
- Crutchfield — primary (person)
- D. Jones — primary (person)
- Forbes — primary (person)
- Griffith — primary (person)
- Lopez — primary (person)
- Moon — primary (person)
- Pasteur — primary (person)
- Phillips — primary (person)
- Simmons — primary (person)
- Simpson — primary (person)
- Taylor — primary (person)
- Williams — primary (person)
- Wilson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-25** First Reading Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-26** Hearing 2/09 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2023-02-20** Favorable Report by Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-22** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-24** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2023-02-27** Referred Judicial Proceedings `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-03** Favorable with Amendments Report by Judicial Proceedings `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-03** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-03** Motion Special Order until 4/4 (Senator Smith) Adopted
- **2023-04-04** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-04** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2023-04-07** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2023-04-10** House Concurs Senate Amendments
- **2023-04-10** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2023-04-10** Passed Enrolled
- **2023-05-16** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 687 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f94d87e5-07c2-421b-aeb7-ee7c6204b3c9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).