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Rules of Interpretation

Baltimore City Code div. General Provisions, tit. 1, subtit. 2
in effect

Baltimore City Code, General Provisions, § 1-204 Mandatory, prohibitory, and permissive terms.

§ 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.)

Baltimore City Code, General Provisions, § 1-208 Captions or headings.

§ 1-208. Captions or headings. The captions or headings of various statutory units: (1) are for convenience of reference only, intended to summarize the statutory provisions that follow; and (2) are not law and are not to be taken as affecting the meaning or effect of the law. (Ord. 21-017.)

Baltimore City Code, General Provisions, § 1-209 Editor’s or Revisor’s Notes.

§ 1-209. Editor’s or Revisor’s Notes. Editor’s or Revisor’s Notes accompanying various statutory units, including any accompanying list of defined terms: (1) are for convenience of reference only, intended to identify the sources of these provisions and highlight changes made to those sources; and (2) are not law and are not to be taken as affecting the meaning or effect of the law. (Ord. 21-017.)

Baltimore City Code, General Provisions, § 1-211 Effect of repeal or amendment of statute.

§ 1-211. Effect of repeal or amendment of statute. (a) In general. The repeal, repeal and reenactment, or amendment of a statute does not release, extinguish, or alter a criminal or civil penalty, forfeiture, or liability imposed or incurred under the statute. (b) Purposes for which statute remains in effect. A repealed, repealed and reenacted, or amended statute remains in effect for the purpose of sustaining any: (1) criminal or civil action, suit, proceeding, or prosecution for the enforcement of a penalty, forfeiture, or liability; and (2) judgment, decree, or order that imposes, inflicts, or declares the penalty, forfeiture, or liability. (Ord. 21-017.)

Baltimore City Code, General Provisions, § 1-212 References to other laws.

§ 1-212. References to other laws. Whenever a provision of this City Code refers to any other part of the Code or to any other law, the reference applies to any subsequent amendment of the law referred to, unless the referring provision expressly provides otherwise. (Ord. 21-017.)

Baltimore City Code, General Provisions, § 1-214 Severability.

§ 1-214. Severability. (a) In general. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section: (1) all provisions of this Code {or of a regulation adopted under this Code} are severable; and (2) if a court determines that a word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, subsection, section, or other provision is invalid or that the application of any part of the provision to any person or circumstances is invalid, the remaining provisions and the application of those provisions to other persons or circumstances are not affected by that decision. (b) Exceptions. Subsection (a) of this section does not apply: (1) to the extent that a statute {or regulation} specifically provides otherwise; or (2) if the court finds that the remaining provisions alone are incomplete and incapable of being executed in accordance with the legislative intent. (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/1/2Fetched: 10/25/2026

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