Is Maryland a Stand Your Ground State? (2026)
No. Maryland is a duty-to-retreat state. The duty lifts inside your dwelling, and nowhere else.
The short version
- At home, do you have to back away first? No.
- Does the law assume your fear was reasonable? No, you would have to show it.
- Away from home? In Maryland you must retreat first if you can do so safely.
- Are you protected from being sued afterwards? Partly – some protection, not a full shield.
- Can a judge end the case before trial? No – it goes to a jury.
No. Maryland is a duty-to-retreat state. Before using deadly force you are expected to retreat if you know you can do so in complete safety. The duty lifts inside your dwelling, and nowhere else. There is no pretrial immunity hearing. On the civil side there is partial protection: Md. Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-808 covers someone who entered your dwelling or place of business, and it is forfeited on conviction.
Last verified: 6 September 2026 · Source: Official · Controlling authority: Jarvis v. State, No. 22, Sept. Term 2023 (Md. Aug. 12, 2024)
| Stand-your-ground status | duty to retreat |
|---|---|
| Duty to retreat outside the home | Yes, outside the home |
| Where the no-retreat rule applies | Dwelling only (common-law castle doctrine) |
| Primary citation | Jarvis v. State, No. 22, Sept. Term 2023 (Md. Aug. 12, 2024) |
| Presumption of reasonable fear | No |
| Civil immunity | Partial, Md. Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-808, dwelling or place of business |
| Case can end before trial? | No |
| Who bears the burden | None, justification is litigated at trial |
| Last amended | Not applicable, the rule is case law (restated in Jarvis v. State, 2024) |
What the law actually says
Maryland’s rule is not in a statute at all. The castle exception comes from Burch v. State, 346 Md. 253 (1997), which cites Crawford v. State, 231 Md. 354 (1963), and the Supreme Court of Maryland restated the whole rule in Jarvis v. State on 12 August 2024.
Because it is judge-made, the rule sits in the decisions rather than in a section number: Burch v. State, 346 Md. 253 (1997), citing Crawford v. State, 231 Md. 354 (1963). Everything outside the dwelling keeps the duty. Where Maryland asks you to retreat, it asks only that you do so if you know you can retreat with complete safety. It does not ask you to gamble.
Where the no-retreat rule does apply in Maryland
The duty lifts inside your dwelling. That is the whole of it. The exception does not travel with you, and it does not stretch to a car, a yard or a street unless the authority above says so in terms.
What Maryland gets reported wrong
Because the rule is judge-made, lists built by scanning the Maryland Code find nothing and record the state as having no castle doctrine at all. It has one. What Maryland does not have is a stand-your-ground rule outside the home, a presumption in your favor, or a pretrial hearing.
Can a Maryland case end before trial?
No. Maryland has no self-defense immunity statute, so there is no pretrial hearing to ask for and no burden-shifting standard to satisfy at the front of a case. Justification is argued to the jury, at trial, every time.
How Maryland compares
Of the fifty states, eleven keep a duty to retreat outside the home. Maryland is one of them. Twenty-nine have written stand-your-ground into statute, eight reached it through their courts, and two removed the duty only in part.
Within that group of eleven, four cover the place of work as well as the dwelling. Maryland is not one of them. Only one of the eleven, Rhode Island, gives the occupant a presumption that their fear was reasonable, and Maryland is not it. Four of the eleven offer any civil protection at all, and Maryland is one of the four. Not one of the eleven offers a pretrial immunity hearing.
Every one of those counts is taken from the fifty-state dataset published behind our comparison hub, not asserted here.
Related Maryland references
- Maryland gun laws — permits, carry, purchase and transport.
- Castle doctrine in all 50 states — the full comparison table.
- Stand your ground laws by state — the full 50-state table with citations and downloadable dataset.
- Concealed carry reciprocity — where a Maryland permit is honored.
- Firearms and 2A legal glossary.
Researched and written by James Nicholas from Maryland’s own controlling authority. See how we verify carry-law data.
Common questions about Maryland’s self-defense law
Is Maryland a stand your ground state?
No. Maryland is a duty-to-retreat state. Before using deadly force you are expected to retreat if you know you can do so in complete safety. The duty lifts inside your dwelling, and nowhere else. The rule is set out in Jarvis v. State, No. 22, Sept. Term 2023 (Md. Aug. 12, 2024).
Do I have to back away before defending myself at home in Maryland?
No. Inside your dwelling, Maryland does not ask you to back away first. There is no statute saying so; the rule comes from Burch v. State, 346 Md. 253 (1997), citing Crawford v. State, 231 Md. 354 (1963).
Can I stand my ground away from home in Maryland?
No. Away from your dwelling, Maryland asks you to retreat before using deadly force if you know you can do so with complete safety. That is the single biggest difference between Maryland and its stand-your-ground neighbors.
Does Maryland assume I was really in danger?
No. Maryland gives you no presumption. It does not start from the position that your fear of serious harm was reasonable. That is something you would have to show.
Can I still be arrested, charged or sued in Maryland?
Yes. Maryland has no pretrial immunity hearing, so self-defense is argued at trial rather than raised to end a case early. On the civil side there is partial protection: Md. Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-808 covers someone who entered your dwelling or place of business, and it is forfeited on conviction.
Where these answers come from
Every statement on this page is taken from Maryland’s own controlling authority, or from the fifty-state dataset published behind our comparison hub. Nothing here is inferred.
- Jarvis v. State, No. 22, Sept. Term 2023 (Md. Aug. 12, 2024) — official
- Civil immunity: Partial. Md. Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-808 (2010) covers a person who entered your dwelling or place of business, and it is forfeited on conviction.
- Castle doctrine rule: no statute — Burch v. State, 346 Md. 253 (1997), citing Crawford v. State, 231 Md. 354 (1963)
- Pretrial immunity: none
- Last amended: not applicable, the rule is case law (restated in Jarvis v. State, 2024)
- Last checked by us: 6 September 2026
Read it yourself: Jarvis v. State, No. 22, Sept. Term 2023 (Md. Aug. 12, 2024) (official).