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(a) Open Meetings Act – additional requirements. A group must comply with the requirements under this section, in addition to the requirements under the state Open Meetings Act, Title 3 of the General Provisions Article of the Maryland Code, as amended.
(b) Notices of meetings.
(1) Except as provided under paragraph (3), a group must publish the notice required under Section 3-302 of the Open Meetings Act:
(A) within 5 business days after the group has determined the meeting date; and
(B) at least 2 calendar days before the meeting.
(2) If a meeting will include virtual access, the group must publish how the public may attend the meeting virtually.
(3) If the requirements of paragraph (1) cannot be met due to an emergency, a group must:
(A) publish the notice at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting; and
(B) indicate in the notice that the meeting is an emergency meeting.
(c) Meeting agendas.
(1) Except as provided under paragraph (2), a group must publish the agenda of a meeting under Section 3-302.1 of the Open Meetings Act:
(A) within 5 business days after the group has determined the agenda; and
(B) at least 2 calendar days before the meeting.
(2) If the requirements of paragraph (1) cannot be met due to an emergency, a group must:
(A) publish the agenda at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting; and
(B) indicate on the agenda that the meeting is an emergency meeting.
(3) If the requirements of paragraph (2) cannot be met due to an emergency declared by the Governor of Maryland or the County Executive, a group must:
(A) publish the agenda as soon as practicable in advance of the meeting; and
(B) indicate on the agenda that the meeting is an emergency meeting.
(d) Meeting minutes and recordings.
(1) Within 5 business days after it meets, a group must publish, if the group recorded the full meeting, a file of the recording, or a link to the recording.
(2) Within 5 business days after approving meeting minutes, a group must publish the approved minutes under Section 3-306 of the Open Meetings Act.
(e) Compliance and reporting requirements.
(1) The County department or office assigned to staff a group must ensure the group’s compliance with the requirements of this section.
(2) A group member, or member of the public, may complain to an office or department designated by the County Executive if a group does not comply with the requirements of this section.
(3) The designated office or department:
(A) may consult with the group, and staff assigned to the group, to address compliance issues under this section; and
(B) must report in writing to the Council, on a quarterly basis, regarding complaints received under this section and the resolutions of those complaints.
(4) Nothing in this Section prevents an individual from submitting a complaint to the state Open Meetings Compliance Board under the state Open Meetings Act, Title 3 of the General Provisions Article of the Maryland Code, as amended. (2023 L.M.C., ch. 9, §1.)
(a) Purpose. Informed public actions on land use matters require a full exploration of often complex factual and legal issues. An independent People's Counsel can protect the public interest and promote a full and fair presentation of relevant issues in administrative proceedings in order to achieve balanced records upon which sound land use decisions can be made. In addition, a People's Counsel who provides technical assistance to citizens and citizen organizations will encourage effective participation in, and increase public understanding of and confidence in, the County land use process.
(b) Authority; duties. To protect the public interest and achieve a full and fair presentation of relevant issues, the People's Counsel may participate in a proceeding before:
(1) the Board of Appeals if the proceeding involves a variance or a special exception;
(2) the County Council (solely for oral argument) or the Hearing Examiner for the County Council if the matter involves a local map amendment, a floating zone plan approved under the zoning process or a conditional use; and
(3) the Planning Board if the proceeding involves action on an optional method development, a subdivision plan including a subdivision plan for a cluster development, or a site plan.
The People's Counsel may also file a complaint under Section 59-G-1.3(b) alleging failure to comply with a special exception, or may seek a modification of a special exception under Section 59-G-1.3(c) or a revocation of a special exception under Section 59-G-1.3(e).
(c) Restrictions. The People's Counsel must not participate in any legislative proceeding, or in any proceeding before a board or agency of any municipality in the County.
(d) Participation. The People's Counsel is a party in a proceeding under subsection (b) once the People's Counsel files a notice of intention to participate. After the notice is filed, the People's Counsel is entitled to all notices to a party and may participate by making motions, introducing evidence, calling witnesses, examining and cross-examining witnesses, and making arguments as the law and the evidence in the proceeding warrant. The People's Counsel may file and argue an appeal the same as any other party to the proceeding.
(e) Independent status. The People's Counsel must not represent the County, any government agency, or any private party in any proceeding. The People's Counsel is not subject to the authority of the County Attorney.
(f) Notice. If the People's Counsel intends to participate in a proceeding, the People's Counsel must give all parties a notice of intention to participate.
(g) Discretion. In the People's Counsel's discretion, the People's Counsel may withdraw from, or decline to participate in, any proceeding in which the Counsel may participate under subsection (b). The People's Counsel is not liable to any person for participating in, or declining to participate in, any proceeding.
(h) Technical assistance. Without becoming a party to any judicial or administrative proceeding, and subject to available time and resources, the People's Counsel may provide technical assistance to any person about a proceeding listed in subsection (b). When providing technical assistance under this subsection, the People's Counsel must inform the recipient that the People's Counsel is not acting and cannot act as a personal attorney for the recipient.
(i) Coordination. The People's Counsel must coordinate the services of its office with those offered by land use information staff in the Council, Board of Appeals, and Planning Board, to avoid inconsistency and duplication and to maximize the assistance offered to citizens.
(j) Annual report. The People's Counsel must annually report to the Council on the activities of the office. (1990 L.M.C., ch. 22, § 2.; 1999 L.M.C., ch. 19, §§ 1 and 2; 2002 L.M.C., ch. 28, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1.)
(a) Goals. The goals of the Inspector General are to:
(1) review the effectiveness and efficiency of programs and operations of County government and independent County agencies;
(2) prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse in government activities; and
(3) propose ways to increase the legal, fiscal, and ethical accountability of County government departments and County-funded agencies.
(b) Appointment. The County Council must appoint an Inspector General for a term of 4 years, as provided in subsection (c). Unless the Council reappoints the incumbent, the Council must select the Inspector General from a list of at least 3 qualified persons submitted by an Inspector General nominating panel, consisting of no less than 3 and no more than 5 County residents designated by the Council by resolution. If the Council does not select one of the persons submitted by the nominating panel, the panel must submit another list of at least 3 other qualified persons. The members of the nominating panel must not be employed by the County or any independent County agency during their service on the panel.
(c) Term. The term of each Inspector General begins on July 1 of the third year after an Executive and Council are elected, and ends on June 30 of the third year after the next Executive and Council are elected. An Inspector General must not serve more than two full 4-year terms, not including any time served as Inspector General to complete an unexpired term. The Council must appoint an Inspector General to complete a term if the Inspector General resigns, dies, or is removed from office. If the term of the Inspector General expires or the position is otherwise vacant, the senior professional staff member, if any, in the Office of the Inspector General serves as acting Inspector General until an Inspector General is appointed.
(d) Qualifications. The Inspector General must be professionally qualified, by experience or education, in auditing, government operations, or financial management, and must be selected solely on the basis of professional ability and personal integrity, without regard to political affiliation.
(e) Removal. The Council may remove the Inspector General by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of 7 Councilmembers for neglect of duty, malfeasance, conviction of a felony, or other good cause. Before the Council adopts a resolution of removal, the Council or its designee must hold a public hearing if the Inspector General requests a hearing within 10 days after receiving notice of proposed removal from the Council.
(f) Budget. By 6 months after the Inspector General is appointed, the Inspector General must submit to the Executive and Council a projected budget for the Office of the Inspector General for the entire 4-year term. In the resolution approving the operating budget for the next fiscal year, the Council must also recommend a projected budget for the Office of the Inspector General for the 3 following fiscal years. The Council must specify in any later budget resolution how the Office budget for that fiscal year differs from the projected budget the Council previously recommended.
(g) Staff; Legal Counsel.
(1) The Inspector General may, subject to appropriation and all applicable merit system laws and regulations, appoint as a term merit employee one or more deputies and each of the other staff of the Office of the Inspector General as a merit employee. The term of each deputy should end when the next Inspector General takes office unless the Inspector General specifies a shorter term when appointing the term merit employee. The Inspector General may also, subject to appropriation, retain project staff or other consultants by contract. The Inspector General may, with the agreement of the head of any other government department or agency, temporarily detail an employee of that department or agency to the Office of the Inspector General.
(2) The County Attorney must provide legal services to the Inspector General, and may employ special legal counsel for the Inspector General under Section 213 of the Charter.
(3) The Inspector General may employ and be represented by a special legal counsel who is not subject to the authority of the County Attorney, or may obtain legal services from persons outside the Office of the County Attorney, without the approval of the County Attorney if:
(A) the Inspector General finds that obtaining independent legal services is necessary to effectively perform his or her duties;
(B) the County Attorney has had a reasonable opportunity to comment on the qualifications of the person or firm that the Inspector General has selected to provide those services; and
(C) the County Council approves the Inspector General’s decision to obtain independent legal servcies and appropriates sufficient funds to cover the cost of the legal services.
(h) Powers and Duties.
(1) The Inspector General must attempt to identify actions which would enhance the productivity, effectiveness, or efficiency of programs and operations of County government and independent County agencies. In developing recommendations, the Inspector General may:
(A) conduct investigations, budgetary analyses, and financial, management, compliance, or performance audits and similar reviews; and
(B) seek assistance from any other government agency or private party or undertake any project jointly with any other governmental agency or private body.
(2) The Inspector General must:
(A) conduct a systematic risk-based rotating group by group review of the County’s internal accounting and contracting processes and controls used by each department and principal office in the Executive Branch; and
(B) conduct audits of high risk County contracts and agreements.
(3) The Inspector General may review or audit any County contract or agreement if the Inspector General determines that review or audit is in the public interest. The required duties described in paragraph (2) must not be construed to limit the powers and duties of the Inspector General established in paragraph (1).
In each project of the Office, the Inspector General should uphold the objective of complying with applicable generally accepted government auditing standards.
(i) Work plan. The Inspector General must direct the activities of the Office of the Inspector General, subject to a work plan for the Inspector General’s 4-year term which the Inspector General must adopt within 6 months after being appointed. The Inspector General may amend the plan during a term. The Inspector General must consider recommendations and may seek suggestions for the work plan from the Executive, the County Council, the head of each independent County agency, employees of County government and independent County agencies, employee organizations, and individual residents. The work plan must include the systematic review and audits required in subsection (h). The Inspector General must release the work plan to the public but may treat any item or suggestion for an item as confidential when advance public or agency knowledge of that item or suggestion would frustrate or substantially impede the work of the Office.
(j) Coordination. The Inspector General should consult with the Director of the Office of Legislative Oversight to assure that the work of the Inspector General complements but does not duplicate the work assigned by the Council to the Office of Legislative Oversight, as well as audits and other evaluations conducted by other departments and agencies. The Inspector General may review any audit or program evaluation performed by or on behalf of any County department or agency, and may seek comments from the same or any other department or agency.
(k) Reports.
(1) The Inspector General must submit by October 1 each year an annual report to the Council and the Executive on the activities of the Office and its major findings and recommendations during the previous fiscal year.
(2) When the Inspector General completes a workplan item, the Inspector General must submit a written report on that item to the County Council, the Executive and the director of each affected department or agency. The report must describe the purpose of the project, the research methods used, and the Inspector General’s findings and recommendations. Each affected department or agency must be given a reasonable opportunity to respond to the Inspector General’s final draft of each report. After giving the Executive and the Council a reasonable opportunity to review the report, the Inspector General must release the report to the public, subject to the state public information act. The public report must include the agency’s response. The Inspector General may keep any report prepared under this paragraph, and any information received in connection with that report, confidential until the report is released to the public.
(l) Access to information.
(1) The Inspector General is legally entitled to, and each department or office in County government and each independent County agency, including each officer, employee, and contractor of the department, office, and agency, must promptly give to the Inspector General, any document or other information concerning its operations, budget, or programs that the Inspector General requests. The Inspector General must comply with any restrictions on public disclosure of the document or information that are required by federal or state law.
(2) To perform the duties of the office, the Inspector General may issue a subpoena to require:
(A) any person to appear under oath as a witness; or
(B) the production of any information, document, report, record, account, or other material.
(3) The Inspector General may enforce any subpoena issued under this Section in any court with jurisdiction.
(4) Each employee or contractor of a County department or agency should report any fraud, waste, or abuse, to the Office of the Inspector General. After receiving a report or other information from any person, the Inspector General must not disclose that person’s identity without the person’s consent unless that disclosure is necessary to complete an audit or investigation.
(5) An employee of the County government or any instrumentality of the County, an employee of any contractor or subcontractor with the County or any instrumentality of the County, and any individual who makes a complaint to the Inspector General must not be retaliated against or penalized, or threatened with retaliation or penalty, for providing information to, cooperating with, or in any way assisting the Inspector General in connection with any activity of that Office under this Section.
(m) Compliance. Each of the following acts is a Class A violation:
(1) withholding or refusing to respond to a valid request for documents or information under this Section;
(2) giving false or misleading information in connection with any audit, study, or investigation under this Section;
(3) retaliating or threatening to retaliate against any person for filing a complaint with the Inspector General, furnishing information, or cooperating in any audit, study, or investigation under this Section.
(n) Definition. As used in this Section, "independent County agency" means:
(1) the County Board of Education and the County school system;
(2) Montgomery College;
(3) the Housing Opportunities Commission;
(4) the County Revenue Authority; and
(5) any other governmental agency (except a municipal government or a state- created special taxing district) for which the County Council appropriates or approves funding, sets tax rates, makes levies, or approves programs or budgets.
(o) Council responsibility. The Council must ensure that the operating budget for the Office of the Inspector General is sufficient to provide the services required by this Section.
(1997 L.M.C., ch. 26, §1; 2000 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 1; 2004 L.M.C., ch. 19, § 1; 2009 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 2010 L.M.C., ch. 8; § 1; 2019 L.M.C., ch. 24, §1; 2020 L.M.C., ch. 2, §1; 2022 L.M.C., ch. 35, §1.)
Editor’s note—2020 L.M.C., ch. 2, §2, states: Transition. A term merit employee who is employed in the Inspector General’s Office when this law takes effect must continue as a term merit employee until the employee’s term is completed.
Montgomery County v. Shropshire, 420 Md. 362, 23 A.3d 205 (2011) discusses access to records by the Inspector General under the Maryland Public Information Act.
See County Attorney Opinion dated 3/12/09 explaining the Inspector General’s authority to investigate an ongoing personnel matter a part of the goal of detecting and deterring fraud, waste and abuse. See County Attorney Opinion dated 3/22/02 which indicates the contents of the Inspector General’s reports are established by County law and must include the response from the department affected. See County Attorney Opinion dated 1/16/02 discussing the circumstances in which the Inspector General may access personnel records without the employee’s consent. Also see 91 Op. Atty. Gen. 145 (2006), explaining the aspects of the board of education that the County may authorize the inspector general to audit and those issues that remain within the authority of the State. Note that references within the Opinions to Sec. 2-64A reflect where the Office of Inspector General was found when the Office was a part of the Executive Branch. See County Attorney Opinion dated 11/12/97 indicating that the Charter permits the use of merit system employees for pilot programs and enterprise programs, but prohibits the use of contract employees for these programs. See County Attorney Opinion No. 97-1 dated 6/27/97 explaining that the law establishing the Office of the Inspector General as a principal Office in the Executive Branch of County government conflicts with the Charter.
The County Council may, by local law, grant to the Inspector General the same authority over the following entities that the Inspector General has over a department of County government:
(1) the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County;
(2) Montgomery College; and
(3) the Montgomery County Board of Education and the public schools located in Montgomery County.
(2019, ch. 167 & 168; 2020, ch. 329, §1.)
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