William Folden
William G. Folden is an American politician who is currently a Republican member of the Maryland Senate, representing District 4 since 2023. He was previously a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing Maryland [House of Delegates District 3B|District 3B] from 2015 to 2019.
Background
Folden was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, and graduated from nearby Governor Thomas Johnson High School. He later attended Frederick Community College, where he earned an A.A. degree in criminal justice. Folden also served in the United States Army in the Military [Police Corps (United States)|military police corps] and as a infantry sniper. From 1994 to 2011, Folden served as the deputy sheriff of Frederick County, and has served as a police officer for the city of Frederick since 2011, even working as an officer while in the Maryland legislature. As of January 2026, he is retired from the Frederick Police Department.Political career
In 2006, Folden announced his candidacy for Frederick [County Sheriff's Office (Maryland)|Frederick County Sheriff]. He was defeated by deputy sheriff Chuck Jenkins in the Republican primary, coming in third with 21.16 percent of the vote.In June 2021, Folden filed for the House of Delegates race in District 4. In September 2021, he withdrew his bid for delegate and entered the Senate race in District 4 for the seat being vacated by Michael Hough. He won the 2022 [Maryland Senate election#District 4|state senate election] on November 8, 2022, by a margin of 57.54% to 42.36%.
House of Delegates
Folden was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 14, 2015. He served in this position until January 9, 2019, after being defeated by Democratic challenger Ken Kerr in the 2018 Maryland House of Delegates election. He was the only active police officer in the state legislature.Committees and caucuses
- Member, Judiciary Committee, 2015
- Environment and Transportation Committee, 2015–2019
- Member, Public Safety and Policing Work Group, 2015–2016
- Chair, Frederick County Delegation, 2018–2019
- Member, Maryland Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus, 2015–2019
- Maryland Veterans Caucus, 2015–2019
Maryland Senate
Folden was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 11, 2023. He is a member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee.Political positions
Education
During the 2017 legislative session, Folden introduced a bill that would provide state funding to and relax restrictions on the state's charter schools.Environment
During the 2025 legislative session, Folden supported legislation to repeal Maryland's statewide fracking ban.Housing
During the 2017 legislative session, Folden introduced a bill that would allow military members to end their housing leases early if deployed or called to a new duty station. The bill passed the House of Delegates unanimously.Guns
In January 2018, Folden said he supported a bill that would prohibit people convicted of domestic abuse from having access to firearms.National politics
During the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, Folden endorsed Ted Cruz and served on the Cruz for Maryland Leadership Team.Policing
In July 2015, following the 2015 [Baltimore protests|Baltimore protests] earlier that year, Folden sent a letter to the co-chairs of the Public Safety and Policing Work Group requesting that Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake testify about the city's tactical response.During the 2017 legislative session, Folden introduced a bill that would create the Maryland Police Training Commission to develop a lethality screening protocol and training to use when investigating complains of domestic violence and assault by strangulation, which was signed by Governor Larry Hogan in May 2016.
During the 2018 legislative session, Folden introduced a bill that would train emergency responders on how to properly handle interactions with veterans affected by trauma.
During the 2026 legislative session, Folden opposed a bill that would prohibit police officers from wearing masks while on duty with exceptions for officers involved in undercover operations, saying that masked federal officers "are trying to actually find a way to protect themselves and their families from being doxed by certain activists who make it their mission to cause disruption in the performance of their duties". He also criticized calls to prohibit counties from entering into 287(g) program agreements.
Social issues
During the 2017 legislative session, Folden voted against a joint resolution that would allow the Attorney General of Maryland to file lawsuits against the federal government, saying that he opposed the expanded powers because the Attorney General did not have these powers when they were elected.In October 2018, Folden called for an independent review of complaints against Frederick Community College president Elizabeth Burmaster, which claimed that she had been verbally and physically abusive toward faculty and administrators at the college. Later that month, the community college board of trustees voted to request an investigation into the complaints.