Maryland

Why: No bill introduced: background checks, and CNS licensees left out.

No compact bill has ever been introduced in Maryland. Maryland RDs who pushed for the compact were told the state would not participate because Maryland does not require a criminal background check for dietetic licensure and had no plan to add one, while the compact requires member states to conduct them. That objection expires on the state's own timetable: the Maryland Board of Dietetic Practice has announced it will require criminal background checks for all new applicants after July 1, 2027, and for renewals after January 1, 2028.

A second, larger barrier is structural. Maryland licenses two separate designations: a Dietitian, on the Commission on Dietetic Registration route, and a Nutritionist, on the Board for Certification of Nutrition Specialists route. A compact privilege requires CDR registration, so the compact as written reaches only the first group and leaves the CNS-route licensees out. Montana has shown that is solvable, since its compact law extends a privilege to nutritionists as well. A reader raised this in September 2026. We could not confirm from a primary source whether aligning the two licenses is a formal prerequisite Maryland has adopted, and we will not state a timeline we cannot source.