Mandatory, prohibitory, and permissive terms.
Baltimore City Code, General Provisions, § 1-204
in effect§ 1-204. Mandatory, prohibitory, and permissive terms.
(a) Mandatory terms.
“Must” and “shall” are each mandatory terms used to express a requirement or to impose a duty.
(b) Prohibitory terms.
“Must not”, “may not”, and “no ... may” are each mandatory negative terms used to establish a prohibition.
(c) Permissive terms.
“May” is permissive.
(Ord. 21-017.)
Source: City of Baltimore Department of Legislative Reference, City of Baltimore Law Library (codes.baltimorecity.gov; Open Law Library bulk XML)URL: https://codes.baltimorecity.gov/us/md/cities/baltimore/code/general/1-204Fetched: 10/25/2026