John P. McDonough, Secretary of State     ~     Brian R. Moe, Deputy Secretary of State

Maryland Safe At Home
Address Confidentiality Program

The Maryland legislature established the Address Confidentiality Program ("ACP") within the Office of the Secretary of State. This program was implemented on October 1, 2006 under SB25, chs. 374 and 375, Acts 2006.

The goal of the Address Confidentiality Program is to help victims of domestic violence, who have relocated or are about to relocate, in an effort to keep their perpetrators from finding them.

Maryland Safe at Home offers two service components: first, the ACP provides a substitute address for victims who have moved or are about to move to a new location unknown to their abuser; and second, the program provides participants with a free confidential mail-forwarding service for first-class mail and legal papers. These services limit an abuser’s ability to access public information which could identify the new location of a victim who is in the program. This is not a witness protection program, rather it is a mail forwarding service.

In most cases, using the substitute address allows State and local agencies to respond to requests for public information without disclosing the victim's actual address.

The ACP is not for everyone. A victim services professional from a domestic violence program can help determine if ACP should be part of the victim's safety plan.

Substitute Address
Protected Records Service
Eligibility Requirements
Applying for Participation
Responsibilities Of Participant
Responsibilities Of Government Agencies

Substitute Address
Each Maryland Safe at Home participant is granted the use of our Post Office Box address. The legal substitute address has no relation to the participant’s actual address. All participants use the same Post Office Box as designated by the program. First-class mail and service of process is sent to the Post Office Box and then forwarded, at no cost, to the participant’s actual location.

Protected Records Service
Maryland Safe at Home allows participants to use the substitute address when creating records with state or local government agencies. Program participants can vote (as an absentee voter), obtain a driver’s license, get married, and interact with State and legal governments without fear that public records will put them at risk of being located by their abuser.

Eligibility Requirements

  • A person who is a victim of domestic violence;
  • A parent or guardian of a minor child who fears for the safety of the minor child; or
  • The guardian of a disabled person, if the guardian fears for the safety of the disabled person.

Applying for Participation
Because participation in the Maryland Safe at Home Address Confidentiality Program is only one part of a victims overall safety plan, we encourage all applicants to apply through a trained Applications Assistant in one of the domestic violence program offices located throughout the State.

Responsibilities Of Participant
The Maryland Safe at Home staff will review the properly completed application and certify an applicant as a program participant for four years and issue a Maryland Safe at Home authorization card. The authorization card contains an authorization number unique to each program participant. When using the substitute address, the authorization number must be included in the address. Because mail from all participants comes to the same Post Office Box, the authorization code is an important identifying item and helps to expedite the mail forwarding process.

Once accepted into the program, participants should use the substitute address when creating records and accessing services with State and local government agencies. The Maryland Safe at Home authorization card should be presented to an agency when requesting use of the substitute address.

Participants are required to notify the Maryland Safe at Home office of any changes in name, address or phone number in order to remain in the program.

Responsibilities Of Government Agencies
State and local government agencies must accept the Maryland Safe at Home substitute address for any public record, unless the agency has received prior approval from the Secretary of State for a waiver or statutory exception. Agency employees may request verification of program participation by asking for the participant’s authorization card. A photocopy of the authorization card may be placed in the participant's agency file and shall serve as the participant’s legal address and confirmation of Maryland Safe at Home program participation. The authorization card is not, however, a legal form of identification.