In accordance with and pursuant to the authority of Article 27, § 286D,
of the Annotated Code of Maryland, the Drug-Free School Zone Maps produced
by the Planning, Zoning and Community Development Department of Wicomico County,
attached hereto, are hereby approved and adopted as an official finding and record
of the location and areas within Wicomico County of property which are used
for school purposes and which are owned by or leased to any elementary or
secondary school or school board and of the areas on or within 1,000 feet
of such school property.
The Drug-Free School Zone Maps approved and adopted by this article
shall continue to constitute an official finding and record as to the location
and boundaries of the areas on or within 1,000 feet of property owned by or
leased to any elementary or secondary school or school board which are used
for school purposes until such time, if any, that this article shall be amended
to reflect any additions or deletions with respect to the location and boundaries
of school property and the Drug-Free School Zones.
[Amended 10-17-2006 by Bill No. 2006-11]
The School Board is hereby directed and shall have the continuing obligation
to promptly notify the County Executive of Wicomico County and the State's
Attorney for Wicomico County of any changes or contemplated changes in the
location and boundaries of any property owned by or leased to any elementary
or secondary school or school board and which is used for school purposes.
[Amended 10-17-2006 by Bill No. 2006-11]
The County Executive of Wicomico County is hereby directed to receive
and to keep on file the original of the maps approved and adopted pursuant
to this article and to provide at a reasonable cost a true copy thereof to
any person, agency or court which may from time to time request such a copy,
along with a certification that such copy is a true copy of the maps approved
and adopted herein and kept on file. It is hereby further directed that a
true copy of such maps and of this article shall be provided without cost
to the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Wicomico County and to the Wicomico
County State's Attorney.
The following additional matters are hereby determined, declared, recited
and stated:
A. It is understood that the maps approved and adopted by
this article were prepared and are intended to be used as evidence in prosecutions
arising under the criminal laws of this state, and that, pursuant to state
law, such maps shall constitute prima facie evidence of the location and boundaries
of the area on or within 1,000 feet of the property of a public or nonpublic
elementary or secondary school that is used for school purposes.
B. Pursuant to the provisions of Article 27, § 286D,
of the Annotated Code of Maryland, a prosecutor is not precluded from introducing
or relying upon any other evidence or testimony to establish a violation of
the offense defined in that statute, including the use of a map or diagram
other than the one approved and adopted pursuant to this article. The failure
of the maps approved herein to depict the location and boundaries of any property
which is, in fact, used for school purposes and which is owned by or leased
to any elementary or secondary school or school board, whether the absence
of such depiction is the result of inadvertent omission or the result of any
changes in the location and boundaries of such property which have not yet
been incorporated into a revised approved map, shall not be deemed to be an
official finding and record that such property is not owned by or leased to
a school or school board or that such property is not for school purposes.