The State of Maryland is chock full of federal enclaves such as Fort Meade, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, and Andrews Air Force Base, to name a few. First we digress.
Federal property is either subject to exclusive or concurrent federal criminal jurisdiction.
Property acquired by the federal government between 1906 and 1940, such as the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center or Fort Meade is subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction. Other properties, such as the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, are under concurrent state and federal jurisdiction. Id. 18 U.S.C. 13, the Assimilative Crimes Act, incorporates the substance and punishment, but not procedural aspects, of state law crimes on federal enclaves, and makes such crimes federal offenses, where the Congress or federal agencies have not legislated on the subject matter of the state law. The Assimilative Crimes Act transforms a violation of state law into an offense against the federal government. Since the offenses created by the Assimilative Crimes Act are federal crimes, it is for the federal courts to define the offenses, and state court opinions are merely persuasive authority which are not binding on the federal court.