Maryland Code and Court Rules Help

Navigating Within the Maryland Code and Court Rules Site

The Maryland Code and Court Rules site includes selected sections of the unannotated Maryland code. The content included at this site is listed on the Maryland Code and Court Rules home page. Just select a link to view a list of relevant documents.

You can also search for statutes related to your issue.

Click Home at the top of any page to return to the Maryland Code and Court Rules home page at any time. To go to the Council of the District of Columbia site, click Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library.

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Searching Maryland Code and Court Rules

You can search for Maryland statutes using the Natural Language search method. Natural Language allows you to retrieve relevant documents by typing a description in plain English. To search using Natural Language, complete the following steps:

  1. Click Search at the top of any page. The Search page is displayed.

  2. Type a description of the statute in the Natural Language Description text box. For example, to retrieve rules pertaining to requirements for service of process, type the following description:

    what are the requirements for service of process

    You can also search for a specific statute or regulation number. For example, if you have a citation to MD COML s 12-109.1, type the following:

    12-109.1

  3. Click Search next to the Natural Language Description text box to run your search.

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Browsing Documents

Citations List
When you are viewing a search result, the citations list is shown first. Click the number preceding a citation to view that document's full text.

To see the next 20 documents that match the concepts in your description, click the right arrow at the bottom of the citations list.

Browsing by Search Terms
In a search result, you can click the right or left Term arrow to move to the next or previous occurrence of your search terms in the displayed document.

Browsing by Document
In a search result, you can click the right or left Document arrow to move to the next or previous document in your search result.

Documents in Sequence
You can use Documents in Sequence to view consecutive documents even if they were not retrieved by your search.

For example, if you retrieve MD COML s 12-109.1, click Docs in Sequence to view MD COML s 12-109.2. Click the Prev and Next arrows located at the bottom of the document to view other consecutive documents. To cancel Documents in Sequence and return to the document you were viewing, click Cancel Docs in Sequence.

Currentness Information
A current-through line tells you how current the document is. For Maryland Code and Court Rules, the current-through line will appear at the end of the document. For all other documents, the current-through line will appear below the title of a document.

Some documents will also include a reference to Scope, which is a Thomson Reuters Westlaw feature that provides information about coverage. Scope is not available on this site; the current through line provides the coverage information.

Updates to a Statute
An Update link is displayed when court orders that amend or repeal your statute are available. Click Update to view the court order. (You are not charged for viewing these court orders.)

Cited Documents
Links are available for some cited documents that are outside the scope of the Maryland Code and Court Rules site.

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Using the Update Feature

An Update link is displayed at the top of a retrieved document when court orders that amend or repeal your statute are available. Click Update to view the court order. (You will not be charged for viewing these updates.)

After viewing the court order, you can click your browser's Back button to return to the document you were viewing.

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Charges for Accessing Cited Documents

You are not charged for viewing any of the unannotated Maryland code and court rules included at this site.

You will be charged for retrieving cited documents not included at this site, such as sections of the United States Code Annotated®.

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Other Maryland Legal Products

Information on other Maryland legal products is available at the Thomson Reuters site.

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