Maryland is hoping to settle out of court with about 1,500 childhood sexual assault survivors, according to state Attorney General Anthony Brown.

So far, Maryland has more than 40 lawsuits brought against it for sexual abuse that happened at facilities like juvenile detention centers that were operated by the state.

The slew of cases came after the Child Victims Act went into effect in 2023, allowing people to sue their abusers, and the organizations that harbored them, no matter how long ago the incident happened.

“No one wants to take these cases to trial,” Brown told WYPR’s On The Record. “The courts can’t handle it, and it's not an efficient way to make sure that as much compensation can go back to those individuals who were harmed by the state.”

An avalanche of cases are coming in now as payouts from the Child Victims Act are being limited by more than 50% due to an amendment signed into law due to concerns that the number of cases would severely impact the state’s budget.

The deadline to avoid the limited payout is the end of May.

Cases filed before the deadline can reap up to $890,000.

Brown released a request for proposals to help assist in legal defense in the cases last month.

Meanwhile, Senate President Bill Ferguson says the General Assembly is waiting to see how the cases shake out and what kind of settlement is reached.

“At the end of the day, we really need to know how many claims there are, and then be able to assess where the potential liability would be with those claims,” Ferguson said.

He added that the legislature will better be able to assess the fiscal situation after the deadline.