Mission

The sole mission of the State’s Attorney Office is to safeguard communities in Baltimore City through the effective prosecution of crime.

To fulfill this mission, our prosecutors have been sworn to not only aggressively advocate on behalf of the victims of crime, but in the pursuit of “justice,”—when the evidence exists—to exonerate those that have been falsely accused or convicted. The public must know that “justice” is the only barometer of success for this office.

Vision

The Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office—which is uncompromisingly committed to accountability, professionalism and transparency— is working towards a future where community confidence in the criminal justice system is restored; violent repeat offenders are held accountable; and communities feel safe.

Profile 

Driving Down Violent Crime

• In our first two years in office, we convicted over 433 felony rapists, child molesters and other sexual offenders including 5-time serial rapist Nelson Clifford.
• Our Felony Trial Unit’s conviction rate stands firmly at 92 percent with over 2,400 convictions in 2016. 
• We secured major convictions in several high profile homicide cases including multiple Public Enemy #1s designated by the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), Bishop Heather Cook who tragically struck and killed Thomas Palermo in 2014, and all of the trigger pullers responsible for the death of one-year-old Carter Scott.
• We created a Gun Violence Enforcement Division staffed by prosecutors and BPD detectives co-located at our headquarters that focuses in on gun violence and gun offenders.
• We developed the Arrest Alert System, designed by the new Crime Strategies Unit, to alert prosecutors immediately when a targeted individual is arrested for any reason.

Engaging the Community

• With the support of the City Council, we reinstated the Community Liaison Program and hired ten new Community Liaisons.
• We secured a record $6.4 million in federal and state grants for FY2017, including $2.4 million in funding to double the size of our Victim/Witness Unit.
• We made record progress in our fight against serial rapists and child molesters with a unanimous vote in the Maryland Senate in 2016. Despite setbacks in 2017, we will continue to work with our partners both within and outside of government to ensure this critical legislation passes.

Reforming the Criminal Justice System

• We created the SAO’s first Conviction Integrity Unit which used DNA evidence to successfully exonerate Malcolm Bryant 17 years after he was sentenced to life in prison for killing a teenage girl; and exonerated Lamar Johnson 13 years after he was wrongfully convicted of a murder he did not commit.
• We launched the AIM 2 B’more program which provides first-time, non-violent felony drug offenders with job training and job placement instead of jail time and a criminal record. Today, 60 percent of the participants enrolled in AIM 2 B’more are either working or enrolled in school or a GED program.
• We created the Junior State’s Attorney Program and Great Expectations to introduce students to the criminal justice profession. And, new in 2017, we began hosting weekly Pop Up events to provide fun, family-oriented programming for youth during the critical evening hours of 6-9 on Friday nights. The SAO’s first Pop Up drew over 550 Baltimore City youth.
• In 2018, Project 17 was launched in an effort to improve school attendance and academic performance for truant high school students through employment and mentoring opportunities.