---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal Law - Sexual Offense by a Person in a Position of Authority"
description: "Criminal Law - Sexual Offense by a Person in a Position of Authority"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 501"
citation: "Maryland HB 501 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bartlett", "Behler", "Embry", "Fair", "McComas", "Pasteur", "Phillips", "Pruski", "Schmidt", "Simmons", "Woods"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 14
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-01-27"
last_action: "2026-05-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b6a73ded-cc3d-4b97-856d-797508ab1696"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0501?ys=2026RS"
source_hash: "e6dc731ca2b66ffe5a5130b805a38ed6d682a83bc05631fb01535d0484d4500d"
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 501 (2026) — Criminal Law - Sexual Offense by a Person in a Position of Authority

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Criminal Law - Sexual Offense by a Person in a Position of Authority** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Chapters_noln/CH_426_hb0501e.pdf)
2. **Enrolled - Criminal Law - Sexual Offense by a Person in a Position of Authority** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0501e.pdf)
3. **First - Criminal Law - Sexual Offense by a Person in a Position of Authority** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0501f.pdf)
4. **Third - Criminal Law - Sexual Offense by a Person in a Position of Authority** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0501t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading (Amend) — **34–0** (pass) · upper
- On Third Reading and Final Passage (Hse concurred) — **128–0** (pass) · lower
- On Third Reading — **131–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bartlett — primary (person)
- Behler — primary (person)
- Embry — primary (person)
- Fair — primary (person)
- McComas — primary (person)
- Pasteur — primary (person)
- Phillips — primary (person)
- Pruski — primary (person)
- Schmidt — primary (person)
- Simmons — primary (person)
- Woods — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-27** First Reading Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-29** Hearing 2/10 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`
- **2026-04-09** Favorable with Amendments Report by Judicial Proceedings `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-09** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-09** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2026-04-09** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-04-11** House Concurs Senate Amendments
- **2026-04-11** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-04-11** Passed Enrolled
- **2026-05-12** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 426 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b6a73ded-cc3d-4b97-856d-797508ab1696`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).