Venue

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

V. Venue

If an offense was committed within the boundaries of a state, which gives that state personal jurisdiction, the issue is which county, i.e., which political subdivision, within that state is the correct place to litigate the case. This is an issue of venue and not an issue of personal jurisdiction. Venue and personal jurisdiction are easily confused because they are both determined on a territorial theory, i.e., situs or locus of the offense. See McBurney v. State, 280 Md. 21, 31 (1977); Butler, 353 Md. at 72-73.

A. Burdens

Venue is rebuttably presumed to exist, and the defendant has the burden of production to present evidence to generate an issue of the lack of venue. In Smith v. State, 116 Md. App. 43, 53-54 (1997), the Court of Special Appeals held that a bare allegation of improper venue is insufficient, and there must be evidence of lack of...