Maryland Ordinances (2026)

Maryland law requires every beekeeper to register their apiary with the Maryland Department of Agriculture and authorizes statewide inspection, treatment, and quarantine of colonies…

Maryland Criminal Law Section 10-621 prohibits possession, sale, breeding, or transfer of specified dangerous wild animals statewide, including big cats, bears, nonhuman primates…

Maryland Criminal Law Sections 10-604 through 10-606 prohibit aggravated and general animal cruelty statewide, including failure to provide nutritious food, proper drink, air, space…

Maryland retailers selling electronic smoking devices need a tobacco/ESD retail license overseen by the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission. The 2024 Tobacco Retail Modernization…

Maryland Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article Title 36 establishes statewide cannabis licensing through the Maryland Cannabis Administration, including 500-foot setbacks from…

The Cannabis Reform Act, codified in Title 36 of the Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article, allows adults 21 and older to cultivate up to two cannabis plants per household and…

Maryland reserves exclusive authority over commercial UAS operations under Courts 14-301, requiring operators to follow FAA Part 107 certification, registration, and operational limits…

Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Section 14-301 expressly preempts local drone regulation, reserving exclusive authority over unmanned aircraft systems to the state and federal…

Maryland requires earned sick and safe leave statewide and is implementing the Family and Medical Leave Insurance program for paid family leave.

Maryland Environment Article 4-101 through 4-116 requires erosion and sediment control plans approved by soil conservation districts before any earth disturbance of 5,000 square feet…

The Maryland Stormwater Management Act of 2007, codified at Environment Article 4-201 through 4-215, mandates environmental site design and runoff treatment for new development…

Maryland Public Safety Article Section 10-101 et seq. classifies most aerial and exploding fireworks as illegal for consumer use statewide. Only ground-based sparkling devices like…

When wildfire danger climbs, the Maryland Secretary of Natural Resources or the Governor may impose a burning ban under Natural Resources Article 5-720. Once that ban is in effect…

Maryland issues Wear and Carry Permits through the State Police and prohibits concealed carry in many sensitive locations across the state.

Maryland preempts local firearms regulation under Criminal Law § 4-209, which reserves to the State the purchase, sale, transfer, ownership, possession, and transportation of handguns…

In Maryland no one may operate a mobile food service facility without a license from the Department, and Health-General § 21-304 lets a truck licensed in its home county work statewide…

Maryland law names the only places a casino may ever legally operate: one site each in Anne Arundel, Cecil, Allegany, and Worcester counties, in Baltimore City, and in Prince George's…

Maryland regulates charitable bingo and raffles county by county, not through one statewide code. Criminal Law Title 13, "Gaming, Local Provisions," gives each jurisdiction its own…

Maryland exempts small-stakes social play from its gambling ban through the "home game" law at State Government § 9-1C-01. Adults 21 and older may host mah jong or card games with…

Maryland legalized sports wagering in 2021 under State Government § 9-1E-01 et seq., requiring anyone who operates or facilitates sports betting to hold a license from the Lottery and…

A Maryland HOA collects delinquent assessments through a contract lien under the Maryland Contract Lien Act (Real Prop. §§ 14-201 to 14-206), and that lien can be foreclosed like a…

The Maryland Homeowners Association Act requires open meetings (Real Prop. § 11B-111) and owner access to association books and records (Real Prop. § 11B-112). Elections follow the…

Maryland overrides HOA covenants on several fronts: Real Prop. § 2-119 bars unreasonable limits on solar collectors, § 14-128 protects the U.S. flag, § 11B-111.2 protects…

Maryland Real Property § 14-130 makes clothesline bans unenforceable on single-family property: no covenant, declaration, bylaw, rule, lease, or rental agreement may prohibit a…

Maryland Real Property § 2-125 stops a covenant, declaration, contract, security instrument, or condominium or homeowners association bylaw from imposing unreasonable limitations on…

Maryland Real Property § 11B-111.8 voids any homeowners association covenant, declaration provision, bylaw, or rule that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts installing or…

Maryland Real Property § 14-128 guarantees every homeowner and tenant the right to display one portable, removable flag of the United States at the home they live in, and it voids any…

Maryland Real Property § 11B-111.10 bars a homeowners association board from imposing a fine, suspending voting, or infringing any other right of a lot owner or occupant for a rules…

A Maryland homeowners association has no lien of its own. Real Property § 11B-117(b) sends it out to the Maryland Contract Lien Act at Real Property Title 14, Subtitle 2, and…

Maryland lets you sell homemade food from a residential kitchen without any licence or inspection, provided the business stays under $50,000 a year in cottage food sales and the…

Maryland has no microenterprise home kitchen permit. The word microenterprise does not appear anywhere in COMAR 10.15.03, the chapter that governs food service facilities, and the four…

Maryland runs sobriety checkpoints and the General Assembly has legislated about them exactly once. Transportation section 25-114 defines a "checkpoint" as a predetermined fixed…

Maryland has no statute granting a right to record the police. What governs instead is the Maryland Wiretap Act at Courts and Judicial Proceedings sections 10-401 through 10-410, which…

Maryland has never enacted a general stop-and-identify statute. A full-text search of the Annotated Code returns nothing for "stop and identify," "produce identification," or "refuses…

Maryland wrote its search rule into the code when it legalized adult cannabis use. Criminal Procedure section 1-211 forbids a law enforcement officer from initiating a stop or a search…

Maryland law requires large food waste generators statewide to divert organics from landfills through reduction, donation, or composting when an organics recycling facility exists…

Maryland law universally prohibits homeowner associations and similar covenants from banning low-impact landscaping such as pollinator gardens, rain gardens, native plants, and…

The Maryland Forest Conservation Act requires permits and reforestation plans for clearing forested areas of 40,000 square feet or more during development. Local jurisdictions…

Maryland law universally requires a state-issued permit before anyone trims, prunes, plants, or removes a tree growing in whole or part within a public road right-of-way anywhere in…

Maryland runs two separate schemes. A golf cart may be driven unregistered, but only on a county or municipal highway the governing body has actually designated for carts, only where…

Maryland Transportation Article Title 25 Subtitle 2 establishes uniform procedures for identifying, removing, storing, and disposing of abandoned vehicles, allowing local enforcement…

Maryland law restricts homeowner associations from prohibiting EV charging stations on members' property and requires accommodation in condominiums and HOAs, while also incentivizing…

Maryland Transportation Article Title 21, Subtitle 10A governs nonconsensual towing from a parking lot, defined as a privately owned facility of 3 or more spaces that is accessible to…

For failure to pay rent, Maryland now requires a 10-day written cure notice before filing summary ejectment (Real Property § 8-401). To evict for a lease breach, the landlord must give…

Maryland's rent escrow statute lets tenants withhold rent into court when serious defects threaten life, health, or safety. Under Real Property § 8-211, after written or other proper…

Maryland's Real Property Article sets statewide minimum notice periods, court procedures, and tenant protections that govern every residential eviction, with local jurisdictions…

Maryland adopted a statewide landlord-entry statute effective October 1, 2025. Under Real Property § 8-221, landlords must give at least 24 hours' written notice and may enter only…

Maryland caps late-rent penalties at 5% of the delinquent rent. Under Real Property § 8-208, a lease may not impose a late fee greater than 5% of the overdue rent for the rental…

To end a month-to-month tenancy in Maryland, either party must give 60 days' written notice before the period expires under Real Property § 8-402. Weekly tenancies require 7 days'…

Maryland caps most security deposits at one month's rent for leases entered on or after October 1, 2024, down from the old two-month limit. Landlords must return the deposit with…

Maryland requires 20 years of adverse possession before a squatter can claim land. Under Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 5-103, an owner must file to recover possession or enter the…

Maryland uses agricultural land preservation districts and county zoning to protect farmland, supplemented by state programs and the Right to Farm law.

Maryland imposes a statewide 6% sales and use tax on short-term rental accommodations under 90 days. Hosts and platforms must collect and remit this tax to the Comptroller, regardless…

Maryland bans placing any sign, including political campaign signs, within a State highway right-of-way under Transportation § 8-605(f). The State Highway Administration, law…

Maryland was among the first states to ban expanded polystyrene foam food service products statewide, prohibiting their sale and use at restaurants, schools, and food packagers under a…

Maryland Real Property § 2-119 bars any deed covenant, declaration, contract, security instrument, or condominium or homeowners association bylaw from imposing unreasonable limitations…

Maryland requires every electric company to offer eligible solar customer-generators net energy metering under Public Utilities §7-306, with a two-directional meter and a tariff…

Maryland prohibits the sale of any tobacco or electronic smoking device to anyone under age 21 under Health-General Article 16.7A.

The Maryland Recycling Act of 1988 requires every county and Baltimore City to recycle a minimum percentage of solid waste. Larger jurisdictions must recycle 35%, smaller counties 20%…

Maryland lets you add auxiliary lighting, but it counts the lamps and measures the mounting height. Transportation Article § 22-217 allows one spot lamp, no more than two fog lamps…

Maryland has no dash camera statute at all, so a dash cam is governed by the general windshield-obstruction rule at Md. Transp. § 21-1104. Subsection (c)(1) makes it an offense to…

Lane splitting is expressly illegal in Maryland. Transportation Article § 21-1303(d) says a person may not operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or…

Maryland attacks registration plate covers from three directions. Transportation Article § 13-411.1 defines a plate cover by what it is designed to do, then bans selling one, offering…

A radar or laser detector is lawful in a private vehicle in Maryland. The Transportation Article devotes an entire title to vehicle equipment, Title 22, and across its sections from §…

Maryland bans studded tires on its highways as a baseline rule, then carves out five counties. Under Transportation Article § 22-405.2(c), owners of vehicles registered in Allegany…

Maryland caps aftermarket window tint at 35% light transmittance, and on a Class A passenger car that limit applies to every window on the vehicle, rear glass included. Light trucks…