MARYLAND MATTERS
JANUARY 21, 2026
The Maryland Office of the Public Defender laid out a legislative agenda Wednesday that calls for more funding for the office as well changes to sentencing and search laws, among others, that will help public defenders to their jobs.
“We are tired, bone tired, of fighting a system that was designed to fail the very people that we represent,” Public Defender Natasha Dartigue during a chilly rally on Lawyers Mall.
Dartigue, joined by lawmakers and advocates, recalled the words of the late author and activist James Baldwin, who said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
“So we’re here today to face it, to speak with truth and conviction as to what Marylanders need to know and hear, and what our dedicated representatives here in Annapolis need to do in the remaining 83 days of session,” she said.
That includes providing more resources for her office and passing legislation to end the state’s practice of automatically charging youth as adults.
Dartigue is also calling for passage of Del. Charlotte Crutchfield’s (D-Montgomery) “Know Before They Knock” bill, which would require that police or social services workers provide oral and written notice to parents or caretakers of their rights if they are involved in an investigation of alleged child abuse or neglect. The bill failed to get out of committee in 2025 General Assembly.
The rally was joined by several lawmakers, including Sen. Shelly Hettleman (D-Baltimore County), Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery) and Del. J. Sandy Bartlett (D-Anne Arundel), the new chair of the Judiciary Committee, who spoke in support of the public defenders. Others, like Del. N. Scott Phillips (D-Baltimore County), pressed for their own bills that are supported by the office.
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