---
type: "Bill"
title: "Family Law - Child Care Providers - Criminal Background Investigations"
description: "Family Law - Child Care Providers - Criminal Background Investigations"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 281"
citation: "Maryland HB 281 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 4
action_count: 18
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2025-09-16"
last_action: "2026-04-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ff677407-c294-4f95-8dbd-0782b232f00c"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0281?ys=2026RS"
source_hash: "762e344c0b56dc67082c7b475631efa650fe5b002651e1b59adda33f567d6da2"
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 281 (2026) — Family Law - Child Care Providers - Criminal Background Investigations

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Family Law - Child Care Providers - Criminal Background Investigations** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Chapters_noln/CH_266_hb0281e.pdf)
2. **Enrolled - Family Law - Child Care Providers - Criminal Background Investigations** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0281e.pdf)
3. **First - Family Law - Child Care Providers - Criminal Background Investigations** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0281f.pdf)
4. **Third - Family Law - Child Care Providers - Criminal Background Investigations** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0281t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading (Emerg) — **129–0** (pass) · lower
- On Third Reading (Emerg/Amend) — **41–0** (pass) · upper
- On Third Reading and Final Passage (Hse concurred) — **130–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chair, Judiciary Committee — primary (organization)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-09-16** Pre-filed `introduction`
- **2026-01-14** First Reading Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-16** Hearing 2/05 at 2:00 p.m.
- **2026-01-22** Hearing canceled
- **2026-01-22** Hearing 2/05 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-03-19** Favorable Report by Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-19** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-19** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-03-20** Referred Judicial Proceedings `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-24** Hearing 4/02 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-04-10** Favorable with Amendments Report by Judicial Proceedings `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-10** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-10** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2026-04-10** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-04-11** House Concurs Senate Amendments
- **2026-04-11** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-04-11** Passed Enrolled
- **2026-04-28** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 266 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ff677407-c294-4f95-8dbd-0782b232f00c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).