A Baltimore landlord has been jailed for failing to comply with repeated orders to fix lead-paint risks in all his rental units.

Cephus Murrell was ordered Wednesday by Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge W. Michel Pierson to be held in the detention center until he had either remediated three rental units with lead-based paint in them or relocated the tenants to safer housing.

Murrell, who according to court records lives in Catonsville, has been the subject of repeated enforcement actions over the past several years by the Maryland Department of the Environment accusing him of not taking required actions to reduce the risks of tenant children being poisoned by ingesting dust from lead paint in their rental units. The state fined him $20,000 in 2007 and signed a consent decree requiring him to fix 52 properties owned by him or C. Murrell Business Consultant Inc.

Pierson found Murrell in contempt of court in June for not complying with an amended consent decree, with eight units still not repaired. In October, the judge ordered Murrell to jail, but stayed his incarceration to either clean up the remaining untreated units or move the tenants elsewhere. But state officials said this week that Murrell had yet to present the required certification that he'd dealt with three remaining occupied units.

Under a 1994 state law, landlords with rental units built before 1950, when lead paint was widely used,  must register their properties with the state and take steps to reduce the chances of youngsters being poisoned.  Ingesting even tiny amounts of lead dust or paint chips can damage young children's developing brains and nervous systems, causing lasting learning and behavioral problems.

Ruth Ann Norton, executive director of the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning,  welcomed the judge's action, saying Murrell had a long history of noncompliance. 

"He has continually thumbed his nose at Maryland's law to keep kids safe," Norton said.  She also said tough enforcement was needed against repeat violators because while most landlords in the state "do the right thing," there is a "core of owners that just will not follow the law and do not get into compliance."

Murrell could not be reached for comment, nor could his lawyer.  But a woman who identified herself as a tenant or former tenant emailed today that had helped "many, many children and adults" and said that he had "allowed lots of people to move in with out paying security deposits."