DJS will lead a review into the sharing of information about young people’s criminal histories

BALTIMORE — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is ordering the state Department of Juvenile Justice to review its policies for sharing information about young people charged or convicted of violent crimes who attend public school.

Sharing youth’s criminal history has become a flashpoint after: A 17-year-old Howard County student was charged with first-degree murder earlier this month.

A student who wore an ankle monitor after being convicted of attempted murder last year is accused of killing a man whose body was found in a car near Howard High School, where he had been transferred from Anne Arundel County.

The murder prompted the state Department of Education to make the decision this week require school principals to share information confidentially about the criminal past of a student who is transferred to a new district.

Howard County Schools Superintendent William Barnes said last week:

If I had access to this information and data earlier, I assure our community that I would not have approved its placement at Howard High School.

Moore currently heads the Department of Juvenile Services, which is tasked with overseeing the agency’s review of its information-sharing procedures.

Moore said in a statement that he “will carefully study this interagency review once it is completed.”

The state’s newly formed Juvenile Justice Reform and Emerging Best Practices Commission (which was established before the Howard County incident) will also soon hold its first meeting and will consider a new interagency review.