Julia Eisen – WMAL News | October 5, 2023
Montgomery County will not be able to move forward with many parts of a proposed legislation to limit when a police officer can pull you over.
Councilmember Will Jawando’s proposal to prevent police from pulling you over if your taillight is out or your license, registration or insurance is expired conflicts with a state law, according to Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown. However, that’s not stopping Jawando from pursuing parts of the proposed bill.
The Safety and Traffic Equity in Policing (STEP) Act, was introduced as a way to limit the reasons that a county police officer could stop motorists and pedestrians.
Attorney General Brown said in a press statement that state law designates certain violations differently than what the county is proposing. No local law can override a state law.
County Executive Marc Elrich says he is uncomfortable with some parts of the STEP Act. However, he would like the county to work with the state to figure out how to implement some of it.
“I do think there are things that are worth it,” Elrich said. “We’ll try to figure out what we can do with the state to implement some of it.”
Elrich says he would rather have traffic cameras send people tickets for things including taillights that are out.
The bill is co-sponsored by Councilmember Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5) and has received past public county support.
WMAL News Correspondent Heather Curtis contributed to this report.
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