Harford County elected officials joined Tammy Nobles, mother of murder victim Kayla Hamilton, in Annapolis Tuesday to advocate for legislation that would allow state’s attorneys to inform school officials about certain crimes committed by students.

The bill, introduced by District 35A Del. Mike Griffith, also aims to expand the list of crimes — referred to as reportable offenses — that a school system could be made aware of.  In the bill, the state’s attorney would be the only entity legally permitted to inform the school system’s superintendent.

“What we are doing is having only the state’s attorney make the notification to only the superintendent and their designee,” Griffith said during the bill’s hearing before the Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday. “There is no reason for anybody else in the school system to have knowledge of what is going on with a student.”

Griffith’s bill was introduced in response to the 2022 murder of 20-year-old Aberdeen resident Kayla Hamilton, who was killed by Walter Javier Martinez, then 17, who police said entered the U.S. illegally months before the killing.

Martinez pleaded guilty in August to the murder. While Martinez was being investigated, he attended Edgewood High School without school officials being made aware that he was a suspect.

Hamilton’s mother, Tammy Nobles, testified before the Ways and Means Committee Tuesday alongside Harford County Public Schools Superintendent Sean Bulson, Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly, and Harford County State’s Attorney Allison Healy.

Nobles spoke about the threat Martinez posed to other children in the community and urged lawmakers to put children and safety first by passing the bill.

“We need to do better for our children and schools here in Maryland,” Nobles said. “Let’s do what is best for every child and put safety first and allow the schools to make decisions on the student’s welfare based on what they learn from the state’s attorney. We do not need what happened to Kayla Hamilton to happen to another child.”

Bulson esaid if he been given the necessary information, he probably would have had Martinez enrolled in the district’s virtual learning program to keep him away from other students.

“I serve approximately 38,000 students and over 6,000 staff members — we need information in order to be able to do the work,” Bulson said. “This bill creates a space for responsible people to send the information that needs to arrive on my desk so I can make difficult decisions frequently about the status of a student.”

Healy noted that an important part of Griffith’s bill is that it allows the state’s attorney to exercise discretion when informing local superintendents — allowing prosecutors to ensure student safety without jeopardizing criminal cases.

Cassilly broke out into tears, pleading with lawmakers for help. Casilly emphasized that school systems are facing unprecedented safety challenges that require state intervention, and spoke about a September shooting at Joppatowne High School that killed 15-year-old student Warren Grant.

“We force children to go to school and we need to be able to protect them,” Cassilly said. “This is what we are facing. … We need your help because we can’t deal with this stuff.”

The bill, HB-0951 will proceed to its second hearing. A date for the hearing has not been set.

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