---
type: "Bill"
title: "Child Custody - Relocation of Child - Expedited Hearing (Assurance of Child's Safety Act)"
description: "Child Custody - Relocation of Child - Expedited Hearing (Assurance of Child's Safety Act)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 440"
citation: "Maryland HB 440 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cardin", "Charles", "Conaway", "Kaufman", "Pasteur", "Phillips", "Taylor", "Toles", "Williams"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 12
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2023-01-30"
last_action: "2023-05-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8748d45b-9f6a-4253-a2b5-3aaf35261a94"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0440?ys=2023RS&search=True"
source_hash: "5c783e8980d7fbec01cfca0346e2534bdce4873c96baef93a52f6d8001494f62"
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 440 (2023) — Child Custody - Relocation of Child - Expedited Hearing (Assurance of Child's Safety Act)

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Child Custody - Relocation of Child - Expedited Hearing (Assurance of Child's Safety Act)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2023RS/Chapters_noln/CH_403_hb0440t.pdf)
2. **First - Child Custody - Relocation of Child - Expedited Hearing (Assurance of Child's Safety Act)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2023RS/bills/hb/hb0440f.pdf)
3. **Third - Child Custody - Relocation of Child - Expedited Hearing (Assurance of Child's Safety Act)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2023RS/bills/hb/hb0440t.pdf)

## Sponsors

- Cardin — primary (person)
- Charles — primary (person)
- Conaway — primary (person)
- Kaufman — primary (person)
- Pasteur — primary (person)
- Phillips — primary (person)
- Taylor — primary (person)
- Toles — primary (person)
- Williams — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-30** First Reading Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-01** Hearing 2/16 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2023-03-16** Favorable with Amendments Report by Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-16** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-16** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2023-03-18** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2023-03-20** Referred Judicial Proceedings `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-05** Favorable Report by Judicial Proceedings `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-05** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-07** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2023-04-08** Returned Passed
- **2023-05-03** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 403 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8748d45b-9f6a-4253-a2b5-3aaf35261a94`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).