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Md. Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 2-304

This is the official text of Md. Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 2-304, part of Maryland’s Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings — governs court structure and civil procedure.

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§2–304.

Official statutory text

(a) If a sheriff fails to file a return within the time set by the court or by rule, the court, on motion, shall order him to do so.

(b) If a sheriff fails to file a return on an original writ within the time set by the court, the court shall amerce the sheriff for the benefit of the plaintiff in the amount of the debt or damages and costs due from the defendant, ascertained from the oath of the plaintiff and other proof required by the court.

(c) If a sheriff fails to file a return on a writ mailed to him for service in his county, the court that issued the writ may cite him for contempt, and may fine the sheriff not more than $50.

(d) If a sheriff fails to file a return on a writ of execution or attachment within the time set by the court, the court may amerce the sheriff, for the benefit of the plaintiff, in the amount of the judgment stated in the writ.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.