In 2022, Maryland passed a law that amended Maryland Business Regulation Code §15-210 to require that lodging establishments — including hotels, motels, and inns — train every employee to recognize the signs of human trafficking.
Almost four years later, Maryland Department of Labor records show nearly 90% of the state’s 765 lodging properties have failed to submit certifications to the state.
Hundreds of reports of possible human trafficking in Maryland are made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline each year. In 2025 alone, people in Maryland contacted the hotline for assistance 386 times. Of these contacts, 109 involved reports of both sex and labor trafficking and 87 involved reports of sex trafficking alone. People who said they were victims or survivors made 165 of the contacts. While 13 of the contacts indicated possible trafficking in a home, 9 involved possible trafficking at a hotel or motel.
The training requirement is intended to help hotel employees recognize such situations. Without it, victims and survivors are left vulnerable, lacking the safeguards Maryland enacted.
It’s possible that some hotels may be completing the training but not providing the proof to the state. However, the law, which took effect on October 1, 2022, did not establish a civil fine or other specific penalty for failing to train workers or submit the annual certification.
When speaking with the Baltimore Sun, Lisae C. Jordan, MCASA’s executive director and counsel, urged “Maryland to look into more effective ways to enforce the law,” because, she said, “Educating the staff of hotels will help prevent this horrible crime.”
