Maryland Has No Statewide Charitable Gaming Law

Maryland's charitable-gaming law lives in Criminal Law Title 13, titled "Gaming, Local Provisions", a title built entirely around county-by-county chapters rather than a single statewide bingo-and-raffle code. " Subtitle 2, "Gaming Events, Certain Counties," supplies the default local regime. Section 13-201 defines a "gaming event" as a carnival, bazaar, or raffle, and limits eligibility to a "qualified organization", a volunteer fire company or a bona fide religious, fraternal, civic, war veterans', or charitable organization. Section 13-202, quoted above, names the 15 counties this default subtitle covers unless that county's own subtitle says otherwise.

Under 13-203, the exemption from the general gambling law holds only if no individual benefits financially or receives any of the proceeds for personal use or benefit, the event must run for the organization's exclusive benefit. Section 13-204 lists the devices a qualified organization may use for prizes: a paddle wheel, wheel of fortune, chance book, or bingo. Section 13-205 requires the qualified organization to manage the gaming event personally through its members, with no outside operator. Beyond Subtitle 2's 15-county default, Title 13 also carries fully separate, county-specific subtitles with their own bingo and raffle rules, Anne Arundel County is Subtitle 4, Harford County is Subtitle 15, and Montgomery County is Subtitle 18, each with its own permit process, prize caps, and reporting steps set independently by the General Assembly for that one county.

Losing the Subtitle 2 exemption, letting a member profit personally, or handing management to a non-member operator, strips the event of its Title 13 protection and exposes it to Title 12's general gambling prohibitions instead of a local permit penalty. Commercial bingo is capped at pre-June 30, 2008 licensees under 13-101(b); no county may issue a new commercial license. Individual county subtitles, including Anne Arundel, Harford, and Montgomery, set their own permit-revocation and misdemeanor penalties for violations within that county.