HB 1634 TASK FORCE
REVISED OPD RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING STRIP SEARCHES
Definitions
a)Admission – accepting and processing of a child who is placed in the care and custody of the Department by the court or a department intake officer for detention, shelter care or placement in a hardware secure or staff secure program.
b)Detention center - a place for the temporary care of children who, pending court disposition, require secure custody for the protection of themselves or the community in physically restricting facilities.
c)Hardware secure program - a program that provides a physically restrictive environment for behavior management and treatment; the facility must be locked to prevent escape and have either a perimeter fence surrounding the facility or an outside-fenced recreation area.
d)Psychiatric facility – a facility operated by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, or a Residential Treatment Center or other program operated primarily to treat children with severe psychological or psychiatric disorders.
e)Staff secure program - a residential program that provides for behavior management and treatment that is secured by staff.
f)Strip search – a visual search only, during which a child is required to remove all of their clothing and staff does not touch the child being searched. Youth shall wear a disposable paper gown from when they take of their clothes until the visual search is conducted, and afterwards until they are provided clothing.
Strip Searches of Children in the Juvenile Justice System
a)Except as provided in subsection (b) and (c), a child in a detention center or hardware secure program operated by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services shall not be strip searched, except at admission, unless:
i)there is an articulated reasonable belief that the child is concealing drugs, keys or anything that can be used as a weapon, and
ii)the search has been authorized by the facility superintendent, administrator or their designee.
b)a child transferred from a detention center or hardware secure program shall not be strip searched upon admission to another detention center or hardware secure program if the child has remained under the direct and continuous supervision of department staff during the transfer.
c)A child in a detention center operated by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services shall not be strip searched at admission if the sole basis for detention is:
i)failure to appear,
ii)a CINS complaint,
iii)a status offense,
iv)a traffic violation,
v)the child’s parent is unable or unwilling to take the child home.
d)A child in a staff secure program shall not be strip searched at any time unless:
i)there is an articulated reasonable belief that the individual is concealing drugs, keys or anything that can be used as a weapon and
ii)the search has been authorized by the facility superintendent, administrator or their designee.
e)When a child is strip searched, written documentation of the following information shall be placed in the child’s case file:
i)name, gender, race and age of the child subject to the strip search,
ii)date, time and location of the strip search,
iii)name and gender of any persons conducting or assisting in the search,
iv)name of the person authorizing the search,
v)detailed statement of the articulated reasonable belief for the strip search, and
vi)a detailed description of each item recovered from the youth and from where each item was recovered.
f)On or before September 30 of each year, the Department shall submit a report based on the information in subsection (e) to the Governor and, in accordance with § 2-1246 of the State Government Article, the General Assembly.
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