More than 35% of applications for charges in 2024 did not come from law enforcement
District court commissioners, judicial officers who are not required to have a law degree, decide whether to approve the applications.
This split bar chart shows the number of applications for criminal charges filed by police and private citizens in each Maryland county last year. Baltimore City eclipsed 10,000 total applications for charges, the most in the state. Private citizens were responsible for outsized numbers of applications for charges in some counties. In Prince George's County, for example, private citizens generated 3,999 of the county's 6,905 applications for charges in 2024.
