False imprisonment in Maryland is the intentional confinement or restraint of another person without their consent and without legal authority to do so. It is both a common law crime, prosecuted as a misdemeanor, and a civil tort that a victim can sue over independently. There is no Maryland statute that defines the offense or sets a maximum penalty; the rules come from centuries of court decisions, and the consequences depend heavily on what the defendant did and for how long.
What Confinement Means Under Maryland Law
The Maryland Court of Appeals, in Okwa v. Harper, described the offense as depriving a person “of his or her liberty without consent and without legal justification.”1Maryland Courts. State of Maryland v. Vadim Roshchin That deprivation of liberty is the heart of the claim whether the case moves through criminal court, civil court, or both.
Confinement does not require locked doors or physical force. Threats, intimidation, or a credible assertion of authority can restrict someone’s movement enough to qualify. What matters is that the victim had no reasonable way to leave. Even a short period of restraint counts if the victim knew they were confined or was harmed by it.
Intent matters too. Accidentally blocking a hallway is not false imprisonment. The defendant has to mean to restrict the other person’s freedom of movement, and that person has to be there without having agreed to it.
Criminal Penalties
False imprisonment is a misdemeanor. Because it remains a common law offense with no statutory penalty attached, no fixed maximum prison term or fine is written into the criminal code. The Maryland General Assembly has noted that common law offenses without statutory penalties are limited only by the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment and Articles 16 and 25 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights.2Maryland General Assembly. Fiscal and Policy Note for House Bill 297 Judges sometimes look to penalties for comparable statutory offenses when setting a sentence.
That flexibility produces wide variation. A store employee who briefly detains the wrong customer faces very different exposure than someone who locks a person in a room for hours. Judges weigh the duration of confinement, any physical harm, the use of threats or weapons, and the defendant’s record. Even a short sentence leaves a permanent misdemeanor conviction that follows the defendant through job applications, housing screening, and professional licensing.
Restitution
A sentencing judge can order restitution on top of any jail time or probation. Under Maryland’s restitution statute, the defendant may be required to reimburse the victim for medical and hospital bills, counseling costs, lost wages, and other direct out-of-pocket losses caused by the offense. Victims are presumed to have a right to restitution once they or the prosecutor request it and back it up with evidence. Restitution does not block a separate civil suit, though any amount already paid reduces a later civil verdict.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Procedure 11-603
Suing for False Imprisonment
A victim can file a civil lawsuit whether or not criminal charges are brought. The burden of proof in civil court is preponderance of the evidence, which is lower than the criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. That means a lawsuit can succeed even after charges were dropped or the defendant was acquitted.
Compensatory damages cover the full range of harm: medical bills, therapy costs, lost income, and the emotional distress of being unlawfully confined. Maryland also permits punitive damages in false imprisonment cases when the conduct was particularly outrageous or malicious. Because false imprisonment is an intentional tort, juries are allowed to award punitive damages designed to punish the wrongdoer and deter similar conduct.
Maryland’s general three-year statute of limitations applies to most civil actions. Anyone considering a lawsuit should talk to an attorney well before that deadline. Evidence disappears, witnesses move, and cases built in the final weeks tend to be weaker than cases built early.
How This Differs From Kidnapping
False imprisonment and kidnapping are not the same offense in Maryland. Kidnapping requires carrying or causing a person to be carried by force or fraud, with the intent to conceal them in or outside the state. It is a felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 3-502 – Kidnapping False imprisonment can happen in a single room with no movement at all, and it carries misdemeanor consequences. If a defendant is convicted of both offenses arising from the same conduct, the false imprisonment sentence merges into the kidnapping conviction rather than adding to it.
When Detention Is Legally Allowed
Several situations give a defendant a legal answer to a false imprisonment claim.
Consent
If the person voluntarily agreed to the confinement, there is no false imprisonment. Courts examine whether the agreement was genuine and freely given, not coerced or obtained by deception.
Lawful Arrest
Police officers making a lawful arrest are not liable for false imprisonment. A warrantless arrest is justified when the officer arrests someone for a misdemeanor committed in the officer’s presence or has probable cause to believe a felony was committed. Officers who exceed their authority or lack probable cause lose that protection.1Maryland Courts. State of Maryland v. Vadim Roshchin
Shopkeeper’s Privilege
Under Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 5-402, a store owner, employee, or agent who detains someone is not civilly liable for false imprisonment if they had probable cause to believe the person committed theft of store property on the premises.5Justia. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 5-402 The privilege is narrower than many merchants assume. It requires probable cause, not a hunch. The detention has to relate to theft from that specific store. And it does not authorize unreasonable length, excessive force, or a fishing expedition. Probable cause is judged on the facts available at the moment of detention, not what turns up afterward.
Reasonable Mistake of Fact
A defendant who honestly and reasonably believed they had the right to restrain someone may avoid liability. The belief has to be objectively reasonable under the circumstances, not just sincerely held. “I thought they were stealing” is easy to say and hard to prove without surveillance footage, witness accounts, or recovered merchandise.
Citizen’s Arrest — And Its Risks
Maryland recognizes a limited right of citizen’s arrest. A private person may detain someone if a felony was committed in their presence, they have reasonable grounds to believe the person committed a felony, or the person committed a misdemeanor amounting to a breach of the peace in the citizen’s presence. Force beyond the minimum necessary is not permitted, and deadly force is never allowed.
The catch is what happens next. If the prosecutor declines to charge the detained person, or that person is acquitted, the citizen who made the arrest is exposed to a false imprisonment lawsuit. Because this is an intentional tort, a jury can award punitive damages. Citizen’s arrests over minor disputes or property crimes routinely produce lawsuits that cost far more than whatever the citizen was trying to prevent.
When a Government Actor Is Involved
False imprisonment by a police officer, jail employee, or other government official opens a second track. Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, any person acting under color of state law who deprives someone of their constitutional rights is liable for damages.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 1983 – Civil Action for Deprivation of Rights The claim goes in federal court and can produce substantial damages plus attorney’s fees. Officers often raise qualified immunity, arguing their conduct did not violate clearly established law; courts reject that defense when no reasonable officer could have believed probable cause existed. A § 1983 claim runs alongside a state false imprisonment case, so a victim can pursue both at the same time.