Section 12-402 - Legislative findings. - Maryland Statutes

§ 12-402. Legislative findings.
 

The General Assembly finds that: 

(1) the State is a unique body because: 

(i) the State is a sovereign political body that the people have established directly for the sole purpose of providing for their government; and 

(ii) the revenue of the State derives principally from taxes on the people, rather than from commercial enterprise; 

(2) State personnel who are acting within the scope of public duties and responsibilities are carrying out a governmental program under law and, thus, are discharging a part of the purpose and sovereignty of the State; 

(3) decisions of courts throughout the United States have created new grounds for personal liability of a public officer or public employee who is discharging a public duty; 

(4) those decisions have resulted in: 

(i) increased difficulties in recruiting or retaining qualified individuals for public positions that involve the exercise of discretion or dealing with the general public; and 

(ii) increased difficulties and expense in protecting these individuals through public, liability insurance; and 

(5) as a matter of State policy, it is essential to protect from liability State personnel who are acting within the scope of public duties and responsibilities and without malice or gross negligence. 
 

[An. Code 1957, art. 78A, § 16C; 1984, ch. 284, § 1.]