Last revised: August 2008
Annotated Code of the Public General Laws of Maryland
UMCP HBK Maryland Room Maryland Reference KFM 1230.A42 1957 & KFM 1230 1973.A4
Online version available at Michie/Lexis website:
Maryland Code Online
Online version available at Thomson/West website:
Maryland Code and Court Rules
Maryland Code at The Maryland State Legislature's Website
Search by Article and Section Number
Maryland Code at The Maryland State Legislature's Website
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Online version available at LexisNexis Academic
UM only Access through Research Port; choose Sources>Publication type>United States>Maryland>Legislation, Statutes. Full texts of the Maryland Code, Constitution, and Court Rules with annotations are available.
Online version available at Westlaw Campus Research
UM only Access through Research Port; choose Law>Content List>Statutory, Regulations, & Legislative Materials>Statutes: Individual States>Maryland>West's Annotated Code of Maryland (Annotated)>then search by keyword or choose: Statutes Index to go to index, Find Citation to enter citation, Popular Name Table or Table of Contents.
Michie's Annotated Code of Maryland constitutes the most current public record of all statutes still in force in the State of Maryland. The "Annotated" in the title refers to a variety of relevant information which may be appended to the text of a specific law. This information may include references to earlier editions of the Annotated Code of Maryland, providing somewhat of a "history" of an Act, a summary discussion of the effect of an amendment, appellate court decisions where that point of law was quoted or cited, a discussion of the way the law was applied to the facts of a specific case, and sometimes a reference to a legal periodical article on the subject. The source of the information is given in an abbreviated form called a legal citation, such as 20 Md. 101.
Email the subject area specialist or call (301)405-9213 for more information.
Table of Contents
Use Michie's Annotated Code of Maryland to find:
- The text of a current Maryland law when the article and section numbers are known (e.g. Art. 27 § 286(a) or § 7-207 of the Environment Article).
- The text of the current law on a specific subject. Cumulative supplements issued every September keep the set up to date.
- A brief history of a law, a discussion of its effect or the way it was applied in specific appellate court decisions.
- Selected citations to selected appellate court decisions where a specific point of law was quoted or cited.
- Selected references to legal periodical articles or Md. Attorney General’s Opinion on a specific law.
- The text of the Maryland and U.S. Constitutions and references to appellate court cases interpreting the Maryland Constitution.
- Changes made in the titles and/or numbers of articles between the black and red sets.Use the Conversion Tables in the back of each volume of the red set.
- The changes made in the current law over a period of time. At the end of each current article or subject title in the parenthetical are references given to all earlier editions of the Annotated Code of Maryland and the Laws of Maryland where that law was also published (more complete in the black volumes).
- Rules of practice and procedure which govern Maryland courts (both State and Federal) in the annually revised Maryland Rules.
- Rules governing admission to the Maryland Bar.
- The code of ethics for Maryland lawyers and judges.
- Selected Executive Orders of the Governor.
Arrangement
The present Michie's Annotated Code of Maryland, which is in the process of being revised (recodified), consists of two separate editions which must be used together. The basis of the set in the 1957 edition (black volumes) which is referred to in this guide as the "black set." Selected articles are now being removed from the black set, revised, clarified, and published in a new recodified set (red volumes) which will eventually replace the entire black set. This revision is referred to in this guide as the "red set."
The volumes of the black set are arranged in one sequence by numbered articles (e.g., Art. 27). Often there are many articles on different subjects in each volume. In the new recodified (red) set, each physical volume covers only one subject and has a distinct title (e.g., Agriculture) so that volumes are arranged alphabetically by title. Either the article number (black set) or the abbreviated subject title (red set) is used as the first element in citing law in Michie's Annotated Code of Maryland or in references found in the Index volumes.
In both sets, the article or subject title is subdivided in the same hierarchical sequence or numbered title, subtitle, and section (preceded by the section symbol §) with further subdivisions as necessary. Sections are numbered in one sequence throughout each article or subject title. Therefore, citations to Annotated Code of Maryland give just the article and section number or the abbreviated subject title and section number, e.g., Art. 21 § 32; HO § 3-202.
Index
1. Subject Indexes:
Both the black and red code volumes are accessed by the same two-volume subject Index that is completely revised each year. In addition, each article of the red set has its own subject index located in the back of that article.
To search by subject/popular name/definition:
- Use the principle subject, not the secondary, e.g., laws on speeding motor vehicles are under Motor Vehicles, not under Speed.
- Use the noun, not the adjective or participle, e.g., Life Insurance is under Insurance, not under Life
- Popular name access points are included in the index as well as word definitions under the heading "Definitions."
References found are to the article number (black set) or volume subject title (red set), section and paragraph. It is then necessary to skim through the indicated paragraph to find the pertinent sub paragraph(s).
2. Table of Contents for individual articles:
Experiencing difficulty using the general index? Try as an alternative access point, the table of contents to the article of the code you anticipate finding the statute.
