State resolves points associated to baby custody, emergency responders – Maryland Issues

The governor’s law firm offered interpretative notes Monday to resolve part of the late last month’s home order issued by Governor Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) to address the public health crisis.

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, Hogan issued a stay at home policy late last month banning Marylanders from leaving their homes unless for essential reasons like medical treatment, reporting to work or buying groceries.

The official interpretative guidelines published on Monday state that Hogan’s order does not apply to mission-critical training and education exercises for volunteer firefighters, rescue workers and search and rescue workers.

The office made it clear that these rescue workers should adhere to social distancing guidelines set out by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maryland Department of Health, including meeting for training in groups of 10 or fewer.

Hogan’s legal advisor also set guidelines for custody of two children, noting that the governor’s order still allows parents to leave home to transport children for visit or custody swap.

This clarification applies to both visiting and custody agreements that have been agreed by the parents and ordered by court order.

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Hannah Gaskill received her Master of Journalism from the University of Maryland in December 2019. She previously worked on The Diamondback’s print layout design team, reporting on criminal justice in Maryland for Capital News Service, and was a production assistant at The Confluence – the daily news magazine on 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR member station. Gaskill has had bylines in the Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune, among others. Before practicing journalism, she received her Bachelor of Fine Art from Carnegie Mellon University in 2016. She grew up in Ocean City.