Criminal Citations/Traffic Citations

Submitting Citations

Appendix A: Distribution of Copies

I. AGENTS

Maryland Law, Criminal Procedure Article § 4-101.1 requires certain information to be reported to the Maryland State Police and subsequently to the Maryland Statistical Analysis Center on every criminal citation issued. Maryland law also requires reporting of the same information for each traffic citation issued.

  1. Agents will use the Delta + Module to satisfy reporting requirements.
  2. Upon issuance of each criminal citation and traffic citation or immediately thereafter, each agent using the Delta + Module shall report the following two (2) variables:
    1.  assigned citation number, (must match the number on the criminal citation).
    2. race / ethnicity of the offender (dropdown menu) Asian, Black, Hispanic, White, Other
  3. Agents must submit completed criminal citations and traffic citations to a FEB supervisor within 72 hours of issuance.
  4. Agents who assign specific court dates, as required by some jurisdictions, should submit the completed citations(s) to a FEB supervisor within one (1) business day. If the citations are not personally submitted to a FEB supervisor, the issuing agent is responsible for contacting the appropriate FEB supervisor and notifying him/her of the citations and where the citations were deposited.
  5. Agents must deliver citations to a FEB supervisor or place them in the appropriate “in-basket” in the Annapolis Office or the Motor Fuel Lab in Jessup.
  6. Agents who issue citations in jurisdictions where a specific court matrix is utilized MUST follow each matrix as published.
  7. Those Agents who are assigned an area that use a matrix are responsible for providing a current copy of the matrix to FEB Supervisors.

NOTE: Variations of this policy are not permitted, unless approved by a FEB Supervisor.

II. SUPERVISORS

  1. FEB supervisors will review all completed citations in a timely fashion prior to forwarding them to the employee who is responsible for citation transmittal. However, citations which are issued with specific court dates, as required by some courts, will be reviewed and forwarded within 48 hours of receipt or notification by the issuing agent.
  2. FEB supervisors will also periodically review and evaluate data regarding the issuance of criminal and traffic citations by members of the agency for patterns of prohibitive activity or for non-adherence to established agency procedures regarding the issuance of criminal and traffic citations.
  3. FEB supervisors, using the Delta+ module, may also run an audit report under the “reporting” option to ensure agents are complying with the reporting procedure for each criminal or traffic citation issued. The District Court may also issue audit reports to police agencies to measure compliance.
  4. As part of annual in-service training, and as required, instructors shall incorporate training updates relevant to the issuance of criminal and traffic citations. As needed, FEB supervisors shall review data collected and submitted to the Maryland State Police and review the annual report of the Maryland Statistical Analysis Center. The analyses may be used to determine any areas that may require additional training of agents.

III. FORWARDING OF CITATIONS TO THE COURT

  1. Each Friday, or earlier in instances of holidays, citations shall be processed and forwarded/transmitted by FEB’s designated staff to the appropriate court clerk.
  2. Citations that are issued with specific court dates will be forwarded to the appropriate court clerk within 24 hours of receipt.

IV. CANCELLATION

None.